Five Still Missing After Wayanad Landslide; Police Launch Probe with Unnatural Death Case
WAYANAD (Kerala): Rescue teams continued an extensive search operation on Wednesday to trace five people still missing a day after a landslide at a tunnel road construction site in Kerala’s Wayanad district claimed three lives, police said.
Wayanad Superintendent of Police Devamanohar said an unnatural death case has been registered in connection with the incident, and an investigation is underway to determine the circumstances surrounding the landslide.
Search operations are being carried out by teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Fire and Rescue Services, and police personnel, assisted by cadaver dogs. Authorities have divided the affected area into four zones to speed up the operation.
Officials are also searching downstream stretches of the nearby river, while the road leading to Chooralmala has been cleared to facilitate rescue efforts. However, a large quantity of mud remains at the disaster site and can only be removed after the search operation is completed, police said.
The Kerala government had earlier termed the incident a “man-made disaster,” alleging that mud excavated during the tunnel road construction had not been removed despite repeated directions from the district administration and Public Works Department Minister P K Basheer. However, the general manager of the construction company rejected the allegation, claiming the landslide originated well above the work site and not on the land allocated for the project. He maintained that the accumulated mud at the construction site was not responsible for the disaster.
Responding to the company’s claims, Wayanad District Collector Meghashree D R declined to comment on whether the firm bore any responsibility. The three victims have been identified as migrant workers — Chandraban, an equipment operator from Madhya Pradesh, Bikash Kumar, a civil foreman from Bihar, and Anmol, a worker from Jharkhand.
Seven others injured in the landslide remain under treatment at Meppadi WIMS Hospital. According to government sources, Chief Minister V D Satheesan is scheduled to visit the affected area on Wednesday to review the rescue and relief operations.
