Rescue Operations Continue After Meppadi Landslide; Four Dead, Seven Missing

Meppadi: Rescue operations are continuing at Kalladi in Meppadi, Wayanad, where a major landslide occurred. Visuals have emerged showing water and mud cascading downhill, with vehicles including a tanker lorry being swept away. Seven people are reported missing.

A couple who are plantation workers at Meenakshi Estate and had come to a bus stop to travel to Meppadi miraculously survived the disaster. They said there was no loud sound before the landslide — the mud simply came rushing down suddenly. "We saw the mud coming and ran immediately. That is what saved us. Even then we fell. The force of the landslide sent us under a moving lorry. We were buried under mud and slush. We sustained injuries but survived by sheer luck," they said. They added that they did not know who else had been in the area at the time.

Footage also shows a tanker lorry being swept along with the mud and slush, as people run to safety. The landslide occurred near the Kalladi Meenakshi bridge, following two days of heavy rain. Four people have died and seven are missing. Residents from homes in the landslide area have begun to be evacuated to safer locations. A relief camp has been opened at Chulika Government LP School, and people from high-risk areas are being moved to camps.

Large quantities of mud from an excavation site near ongoing construction in Meppadi slid onto the road. Vehicles were trapped and traffic disrupted. Search operations for the missing continue. NDRF, police, fire force and local residents are leading the rescue effort, which is being carried out under challenging conditions as rain continues in the area.