24 Tamilians killed in Wayanad landslide tragedy, 25 still missing as rescue operations continue

Chennai: As many as 24 Tamilians, including 21 of them whose families settled in Kerala two generations ago, have lost their lives in the devastating landslide in the scenic Wayanad district, while 25 others have been missing for the past five days, the Tamil Nadu government said on Saturday.

Of the 24 Tamils who died, three went to Wayanad from Tamil Nadu for work and the remaining 21 people belonged to families that migrated from the state and settled in various parts of Wayanad in Kerala.

Most of these families are working in tea estates in the scenic district that has now paid the price for decades of ecologically destructive activities, including the mushrooming of luxurious resorts to cater to the ever-increasing inflow of tourists.

Statistics released by the Tamil Nadu government said as many as 130 Tamils are lodged in relief camps in Wayanad with 129 of them belonging to families that relocated to Wayanad from the home state. Among the 25 Tamils missing, only three travelled from Tamil Nadu in recent days, while the remaining 22 settled in Kerala decades ago.

“We have arrived at this data set after going through the list of dead and those missing after the landslides by the Wayanad District administration. These people were either living in or visiting places like Sooralmalai, and Mundakai. We are working closely with Kerala officials,” Tamil Nadu-cadre bureaucrat G S Sameeran, who is in Wayanad, said.

Sameeran is part of a high-level team dispatched by the Tamil Nadu government to Kerala to help coordinate relief and rescue operations in Wayanad. The team includes personnel from the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF), fire and rescue services, and doctors and support staff drawn from across Tamil Nadu.

The bureaucrat said they are in touch with officials from the Kerala government on the status of the 25 people who have been missing since the landslides. Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced Rs 3 lakh as solatium to families of the three people from the state who died in the landslides.

Wayanad is a scenic tourist town sharing a border with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and is an integral part of the Western Ghats.