Search for 5 missing enters day 2 after Wayanad tunnel landslide kills 3

Wayanad,UPDATED: Jul 8, 2026 12:40 IST

Search operations are under way in Kerala's Wayanad district a day after a landslide at a tunnel road construction site killed three people and left five missing, police said on Wednesday.

Rescue teams, including NDRF personnel, fire force staff and cadaver dogs, are searching the area, which has been divided into four zones. An unnatural death case has been registered and an investigation has begun. The search is being hampered by rain even as questions continue over whether the incident was a natural event or a "man-made disaster".

Wayanad SP Devamanohar told reporters that teams were also searching areas downstream of the river. He said the road towards Chooralmala had been cleared, but a large amount of mud still had to be removed from the site and that could be done only after the search operations were completed.

A day earlier, the state government had said the landslide was a "man-made disaster", alleging that mud that had built up at the construction site was not removed despite directions from the district administration and Public Works Department Minister P K Basheer.

The general manager of the construction company rejected the allegation. He said the landslide happened much above the work site, did not occur on the land given to the company for the project, and that the mud accumulated there was not the cause of the disaster.

When reporters asked Wayanad District Collector Meghashree D R about the company's claim that it was not at fault, she declined to comment.

An official involved in the rescue work said that while the landslide occurred above the construction site, the mud that had accumulated in the area increased the intensity of the mudslide. He also said the continuing rain was making the search and rescue effort difficult.

The three people confirmed dead were migrant workers: Chandraban, an operator from Madhya Pradesh; Bikash Kumar, a civil foreman from Bihar; and Anmol, a worker from Jharkhand. Seven people injured in the incident were undergoing treatment at Meppadi WIMS Hospital as of Tuesday night.

Government sources said V D Satheesan would visit the area on Wednesday as rescue teams continued the search for the five missing people after the landslide that claimed three lives.

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