Several missing after landslide at Wayanad tunnel project
A landslide at an under-construction tunnel road project near Kalladi in Kerala’s Wayanad district claimed five lives on Tuesday, injured seven people and left seven others missing.
The incident occurred near Meenakshi Bridge, where work is underway on the Anakkompoyil-Meppadi tunnel connecting Malappuram and Wayanad districts.
Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan said the region had experienced extremely heavy rainfall and confirmed that weather alerts had already been issued. However, he stated that the primary reason for the accident was the failure to remove unstable piles of excavated soil despite repeated warnings from the district administration and disaster management authorities.
According to the Chief Minister, the accumulated earth had become unstable because of its composition and should have been cleared by the contractors before the rains.
Satheesan reviewed the rescue operation with officials of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority. Ministers A.P. Anil Kumar and T. Siddique were sent to coordinate relief efforts at the site.
Personnel from the Fire and Rescue Services, police, National Disaster Response Force and other emergency agencies are conducting search operations. Additional rescue teams from nearby districts have also been deployed, while defence personnel remain on standby if required.
Local residents rescued three workers shortly after the landslide. The affected area includes accommodation used by tunnel workers as well as nearby houses and homestays.
The tunnel project, intended to improve connectivity between Malappuram and Wayanad, began construction last year.