Published Jul 09, 2026 | 9:31 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 09, 2026 | 9:31 AM
Search operation in progress at the incident site at Kalladi, Wayanad on Wednesday.
Synopsis: The search and rescue team recovered one more body from the accident site in Wayanad district, taking the reported death toll to four. The body was recovered from zone 1 on the third day of the rescue operation. The identity of the deceased has yet to be confirmed.
The search and rescue team on Thursday, 9 July, recovered one more body 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 four.
The body was recovered from zone 1 on the third day of the rescue operation. The disaster site has been divided into four zones to facilitate search operations. The identity of the deceased has yet to be confirmed.
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.
Those reported missing are construction manager Vikram Rana (Himachal Pradesh), engineer Rahul (Himachal Pradesh), excavator operator Mohammed Imran (Bihar), and surveyors Rakesh Guchait (West Bengal) and Azharuddin Ansari (Uttar Pradesh).
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.)
