Kozhikode (Kerala) | Hundreds of people queued for hours to pay their last respects to Kerala lorry driver Arjun when his mortal remains were brought to his native village Kannadikkal in this district on Saturday morning.
Arjun, along with his vehicle, went missing in a river following a massive landslide that had rocked Shirur village in Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka in July.
The body of the deceased youth and his lorry were recovered on Wednesday from the river, more than two months after the disaster, through a massive search mission.
Emotional scenes were witnessed as the ambulance carrying the mortal remains of the youth entered Kannadikkal village, with his friends, neighbours, and fellow drivers bursting into tears.
As the motorcade passed through the area, many people waiting on both sides of the road were visibly struggling to hold back their tears.
People from all walks of life gathered at Arjun's house when his body was placed there for public homage.
"We believed till some days back that Arjun was alive and might be under treatment somewhere and he would come back...and never expected that his return would be in this form," a teary-eyed woman, who is Arjun's neighbour, said.
Forest Minister A K Saseendran, Lok Sabha MP M K Raghavan, MLA K K Rema were among other officials who visited the house of Arjun to pay their last respects.
An emotional Saseendran said he had never seen such a huge crowd coming to bid a tearful adieu to a person in recent times.
Raghavan said the entire state and its people had stood together to find Arjun and the 71-days-long rescue mission was rare in the history of the country.
He also thanked the Karnataka government for their support to recover the mortal remains of the missing lorry driver.
The July 16 landslide on National Highway 66 claimed the lives of eight people in Shirur village in Uttara Kannada district.
With the recovery of Arjun's body, the death toll had gone up to nine, authorities said.
The search operations, started soon after the landslide, were halted on July 28 due to adverse weather conditions, high river currents and other factors.