Wayanad: The death toll from the devastating landslide in Wayanad, Kerala, has risen to six after emergency teams recovered three more bodies from the disaster zone. Local authorities have identified the deceased as out-of-state workers engaged at the construction site, including surveyor Azharuddin Ansari from Uttar Pradesh, engineer Rahul Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, and excavator operator Mohammed Imran from Bihar.
Kerala ministers A.P. Anil Kumar and T. Siddique confirmed the latest developments during a press briefing, noting that one body was retrieved from Zone 1 of the designated search area, while another was pulled directly from the nearby river. Teams are actively concentrating their rescue and recovery efforts across both Zone 1 and Zone 2, with a particular focus along the riverbank as two individuals remain unaccounted for.
The landslide struck the construction site of the ambitious Anakkompoyil-Meppadi tunnel project, a major infrastructure initiative designed to significantly enhance road connectivity between Wayanad and Kozhikode districts. The incident has quickly escalated into a heated political row, with the opposition CPI(M) publishing a sharply worded editorial in its mouthpiece, Deshabhimani. The party accused the Congress-led UDF government of heavily politicizing the tragedy rather than prioritizing immediate rescue and rehabilitation work.
The CPI(M) further alleged that conflicting statements from state ministers and administrative officials have created widespread public confusion and undermined confidence in the rescue operations. The editorial pointed directly to a contradiction between Wayanad in-charge Minister T. Siddique, who initially labelled the incident a “man-made disaster” caused by the unscientific dumping of excavated soil, and Revenue Minister A.P. Anil Kumar, who later maintained that a natural landslide triggered the catastrophe. The opposition argued that the current administration failed to replicate Kerala’s globally recognized, efficient disaster response models seen during previous natural calamities.
