Published Jul 09, 2026 | 9:31 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 09, 2026 | 1:10 PM
Search operation in progress at the incident site at Kalladi, Wayanad on Wednesday.
Synopsis: The search and rescue team recovered three more bodies from the accident site in Wayanad district, taking the reported death toll to six. The bodies were recovered on the third day of the rescue operation.
The search and rescue team on Thursday, 9 July, recovered three more bodies from the accident site in Kerala’s Wayanad district, where debris at the construction site of the proposed Anakkampoyil–Kalladi–Meppadi Twin-Tube Tunnel Road collapsed, taking the reported death toll to six.
The bodies were those of Rahul Sharma (Engineer) from Himachal Pradesh, Azharuddin Ansari (Surveyor) from Uttar Pradesh and Mohammed Imran (Excavator Operator) from Bihar. They will be taken to Kozhikode Government Medical College for embalming after the postmortem examination at Vythiri Taluk Hospital.
The bodies will then be sent to their respective states, the authorities said. The disaster site has been divided into four zones to facilitate search operations.
A soil piping incident triggered by incessant heavy rainfall struck the twin-tunnel construction site near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi in Meppadi on Tuesday.
Eighteen people were rescued and shifted to the hospital, while at least five others were feared trapped beneath the debris. With the recovery of three bodies on Thursday, two others are still missing.
Those reported missing are construction manager Vikram Rana (Himachal Pradesh) and surveyor Rakesh Guchait (West Bengal).
The search operation is being jointly conducted by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams from Meenangadi and Kozhikode, Fire and Rescue Services, the Revenue Rapid Response Team (RRT), police and district administration officials.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister VD Satheesan blamed contractors for the accident. Agriculture Minister T Siddique, in charge of the Wayanad district, termed it a man-made disaster.
Following the disaster, the district administration opened a relief camp at Chulikka Government Lower Primary School and shifted residents living in the area.
As many as 142 people from 42 families had been shifted to the relief camp at Meppadi Polytechnic, where medical services were arranged.
The proposed Anakkampoyil–Kalladi–Meppadi tunnel is among Kerala’s biggest road infrastructure projects.
Planned as an 8.753-km (earlier announced as 8.6 km) unidirectional twin-tube, four-lane tunnel beneath Vavulmala, the project aims to create a direct link between Kozhikode and Wayanad, reducing dependence on the landslide-prone Thamarassery ghat road.
(With inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman and Dileep V Kumar.)
