Wayanad, Aug 2 (IANS): Hopes brightened for a Wayanad landslide tragedy victim, looking to trace his missing kin, as earth-moving equipment swung into action in the Mundakayyil area in the district on Friday evening after a thermal radar spotted signs of life underground.

The thermal radar spotted the signal in an area where there were two homes and from where three people had gone missing.

"I have lost my dear mother, my brother and his family and now I am hoping against hope as I was shown by the officials of a signal on their radar. I really wish it is my mother. My mother is been my everything and how much I wish, the signal that surfaced is of my mother," said the man, who is a workshop mechanic.

Meanwhile, the agency official handling the thermal radar said the signals that were received were very clear and accurate too.

"There are protocols for this thermal radar and what it showed was a strong signal and according to our past experience, it shows life around three metres down," the official said, adding that as soon as the signal was received, all people in the area were removed but the thermal radar’s battery ran out.

"The thermal radar is now gone for charging and then we will again examine it," the official said.

Meanwhile the rescue officials are now engaged in excavating the area both manually and using heavy earth-moving equipment.

On the fourth day after the state’s worst-ever natural calamity, the toll touched 302 while 206 people continue to be missing even as the rescue team searches among the debris.