Survivors recall chilling moments from calamity

WAYANAD: Subeeda, an ASHA worker, knew each and every family in the landslide-hit Mundakkai in Wayanad. Now at the relief camp with her husband Abdul Razak, Subeeda told TNIE that at least 75 houses were completely swept away in the landslide.

“Before the landslide struck, the population of Mundakkai was 1,258. I used to directly interact with over 400 families and visited those households every month as part of creating awareness about various welfare programmes. I hope to see most of them alive again,” Subeeda said.

Sensing trouble, Subeeda and her husband had shifted to their ancestral house on Tuesday after witnessing heavy rain in their neighbourhood. Around 1.30 pm, she received phone calls from people in Mundakkai about the landslide in Chooralmala.

“Then I came to know that the second landslide had hit Mundakkai. Though I tried to contact my neighbours, they were unreachable. Then we came to know that the houses in our neighbourhood were completely obliterated in the landslide. Even if houses are lost, I like to see them alive again,” she said.

Subeedha, an Asha worker, narrating the tragedy that unfolded before her eyes following the landslide at Mundakkai on Tuesday
Chooralmala estate lanes worst-hit by twin landslides in Wayanad
Miraculous escape for toddler

Eight-month-old Hansal Niyas was playful in the safe hands of his mother Ramseena at the relief camp in Meppadi. His father Niyas is serving in the Army in Jammu Kashmir. They had a providential escape from the landslide that swept the area. However, his grandfather O P Moidu injured himself while saving the life of the toddler.

“My wife had gone to the house of my daughter for treatment at the Medical College in Kozhikode. My grandson, daughter-in-law and myself were at the house when the landslide struck the neighbourhood. First we heard an explosion-like sound.

Within minutes, my house was flooded with water and mud. I lifted Hansal above my head and moved out of the house with my daughter-in-law. The gushing water reached the first floor of the house soon after we left the house. We built the first floor only a few months ago. We don’t know whether we will be able to return to our house again,” he said.