Published Jul 10, 2026 | 11:31 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 10, 2026 | 11:31 AM
Search operation is ongoing at the site in Wayanad where the soil collapse occurred.
Synopsis: The search team 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 seven.
The search team on Friday, 10 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 seven.
The recovered body was identified as that of surveyor Rakesh Guchait (24), a native of East Midnapore in West Bengal.
The body will be taken to Kozhikode Government Medical College for embalming after the postmortem examination at the Vythiri Taluk Hospital.
On Thursday, the bodies of Rahul Sharma (Engineer) from Himachal Pradesh, Azharuddin Ansari (Surveyor) from Uttar Pradesh and Mohammed Imran (Excavator Operator) from Bihar were recovered.
However, construction manager Vikram Rana from Himachal Pradesh remains missing.
A soil piping incident triggered by incessant heavy rainfall struck the twin-tunnel construction site near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi in Meppadi on Tuesday.
The search operation is being jointly conducted by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), the 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 earlier, 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 Dileep V Kumar.)
