According to the latest information from Kerala police 3 school children have been rescued from Theni forest fire from Munnar in Kerala. The police have also confirmed that the children were treated for minor burn injuries in the Munnar taluk hospital.
Talking to TNM Munnay DySp said, “Three school children have been rescued and they were admitted to the Taluk hospital here in Munnar. We have spoken to the hospital authorities and the children had only suffered minor injuries.”
He also added that, “According to the preliminary information that we have received all three are from Tamil Nadu. We are investigating further to get more details of the children. A search operation is also on for any survivors in our areas.”
As per the latest reports nine trekkers have been killed in the incident and six others are in critical condition.
Meanwhile around seven people have suffered from minor injured and another seven were lucky enough to escape with no injuries at all.
According to the reports there were thirty-seven people including 26 women, 8 men and 3 children as part of the two trek groups. They were on their way back Bodinayyakanur when they got trapped in the forest fire. While one trek group consisted of 13 members hailing from Tiruppur and Erode, and another group of 24 people were from Chennai. The Chennai group had started to Theni on March 9, Friday.
People who usually organise treks in these regions and senior officials later told the media outlets that this was not the right time for trekking in these regions as the landscape is prone to sudden fires due to the dry conditions.
About 200 locals made themselves available for rescue efforts. Doctors are also reportedly at the spot and more than 10 ambulances and several medical teams were rushed to the spot.