Four North Indian tourists trapped in Wayanad landslide; two missing
Sachin Gowda, the owner of Bengaluru-based Plus Cabs, said that the taxi carrying the four tourists from North India and a driver from Karnataka was trapped in the landslide.
Visual from the spot
WAYANAD: Four tourists from North India travelled all the way to the hill district of Wayanad to enjoy its lush greenery and tranquility of nature but ended up trapped after massive landslides devastated the district in Kerala on Tuesday.
After flying into Bengaluru airport, the tourists had visited Coimbatore and Coorg before arriving in Wayanad a few days ago.
Two of them are now missing, and the other two are undergoing treatment at a hospital for injuries sustained in the deadly landslides that struck the hamlets of mountainous Wayanad in the early hours of Tuesday.
According to the private taxi cab company from which the tourists hired a vehicle, two passengers are missing and untraceable, while two others, women, were rescued and hospitalised.
Sachin Gowda, the owner of Bengaluru-based Plus Cabs, said that the taxi carrying the four tourists from North India and a driver from Karnataka was trapped in the landslide.
"We received an online booking on Thursday with an advance payment. On Friday morning, around 8 am, they were picked up from Bengaluru airport in an Ertiga car," he said.
The group travelled to the Isha Foundation in Coimbatore, then to Coorg, and finally to Wayanad, where they had been staying for the past two days, he said.
At around 1.30 am, the car was detected to be active by the Bengaluru office system, Gowda recounted.
"When I enquired with the driver about the car being on at midnight, he informed me about the landslide," the owner said.
Gowda said the driver told him that there was water all over the place.
"The driver got scared and left the scene, and headed to a hospital," the cab owner said, adding that the two women were rescued and are currently receiving medical treatment.
One is in the ICU and the other is stable, Gowda said.
However, the two other passengers remain missing, and their mobile phones are switched off.
Gowda noted that the passengers are from North India but further details are unknown.
One of the passenger's names is Sweekruti, the person who spoke to the cab owner regarding the booking, the cab owner added.
