Wayanad Tunnel Landslide: Rescue Teams Intensify Search for Last Missing Worker
Intensive search operations are underway in Meppadi, Wayanad, for the sole missing person, Bikram Singh Rana, following a landslide at a tunnel construction site earlier this week.
Mr. Rana, a project manager from Himachal Pradesh, remains unaccounted for after a massive debris slide hit the under-construction Wayanad twin-tunnel road project at Kalladi.
A joint task force comprising the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Fire and Rescue Services, State police, and local volunteers is deployed at the disaster site. Emergency workers are using heavy earthmoving machinery to excavate mud and wreckage, estimated to be 7 to 10 feet deep, in order to locate the missing person.
The death toll from the incident rose to seven on Friday (July 10, 2026) after the recovery of another body from downstream stretches of the Meenakshi river. The victim was identified by relatives as Rakesh Guchait, a 24-year-old project surveyor from West Bengal.
To ensure a systematic and scientific approach, authorities have divided the disaster area into four operational sectors. The final phase of the operation will focus on Zone I and Zone II as efforts continue to trace Mr. Rana.
Rescue authorities have stated that despite intermittent monsoon showers making the unstable terrain hazardous, search operations will continue until the final missing worker is found.
