Heart-wrenching tales from Wayanad's gritty survivors

Wayanad, NT Bureau: One of the survivors of the Wayanad landslides, Thankachan, recounted the sudden destruction that swept away his home, leaving only rubble and debris.

"Where my home stood, there is now a river flowing. I sit here, uncertain of what comes next," he lamented, perched on a broken compound wall that once enclosed his brother's house, now also lost to the deluge.

"My brother and his wife are missing," he added, his voice reflecting the anguish of many who await news of loved ones. Thankachan and his family of six narrowly escaped with their lives, leaving behind everything except the clothes on their backs.

"If we had been a minute later, we wouldn't have made it," he recalled, surrounded by a community now decimated, with friends and neighbours either lost or unaccounted for.

Nearby, a three-storey building lay in ruins, its residents' fate uncertain. Mansoor, a 42-year-old from Chooralmala, faced unimaginable grief as he lost 16 family members, including his mother, sister, two children, and his sister-in-law's family of 11.

He was spared only because he was working away from the disaster area that fateful night. While four bodies of his family have been recovered, his daughter’s body remains missing six days after the disaster.

Devastating landslides triggered by heavy rainfall struck Wayanad district in Kerala resulting in a tragic loss of life and extensive damage. At least 392 people have lost their lives, with 150 others still missing, and over 273 persons injured.

On the night of the devastating landslide in Wayanad, Sujatha, an elderly woman who worked at one of the tea gardens in Mundakkai and lived with her family in Chooralmala, faced a harrowing ordeal that underscored both her survival and the raw power of nature.

As the ground beneath her shattered in the blink of an eye, Sujatha heard the desperate cries of her granddaughter, Mrithutha. Amidst the chaos and darkness, she managed to pull her granddaughter from a pile of debris.

With no sign of her other family members and the floodwaters rising rapidly, Sujatha clung to the hope of survival as she waded through the tumultuous waters, Mrithutha strapped to her back. Their arduous journey led them to a coffee plantation, where, exhausted and drenched, they encountered an unexpected and frightening sight— three wild elephants.

The fear of being attacked by these massive creatures added to their already overwhelming despair. In a moment of sheer desperation and courage, Sujatha made eye contact with one of the elephants.

"I looked the elephant in the eye and told him, 'We have just escaped death from the landslide. We have travelled a long way just to be alive,'" she recounted to TV media.

To her relief, the elephant did not move, remaining still until dawn. By morning, rescue teams arrived and found Sujatha and her granddaughter, clinging to each other, barely alive.

Tragically, Sujatha’s other family members were lost in the landslide, leaving her and Mrithutha as the sole survivors of their once tight-knit family.

Jeethika, a dance teacher, recounted the harrowing events: “In the early hours of that night, a thunderous blast shattered the stillness, jolting our family awake around 1:30 a.m. We gathered together, a silent understanding passing among us that something dire was unfolding. The terror was palpable; those of us living in the area knew that our lives were about to change forever.''

As the first blast echoed, Jeethika sprang into action, alerting the police and anyone she could reach. She rushed to warn the tenants downstairs and other residents, but her calls went unanswered, and the doorbell rang without response. Then came the second deafening blast.

''The house seemed to convulse, the ground quaking beneath us. The panic was overwhelming.

"We decided to flee, but only the children were able to escape quickly. I urged my mother to go on, and she did. My father, however, was immobilized by leg complications. I had no choice but to carry him on my back as we fled,” she told TV media in a teary voice.