Friends reunite in emotional encounter a week after Wayanad landslides

WAYANAD: In a heartwarming reunion, two friends, Mujeeb and Jayesh, were reunited on Tuesday, a week after devastating landslides wiped out their villages in Kerala's Wayanad, killing hundreds and leaving many more displaced.

The two men, who had been unaware of each other's fate, met in an emotional encounter, embracing each other tightly as they recalled their friendship.

"We are neighbours. We are seeing each other after eight days. I didn't know he was alive, and he didn't know if I was alive," Mujeeb told a Malayalam news channel, his voice choking with emotion.

The duo, who had been separated by the disaster, expressed their gratitude to the Almighty for their unexpected reunion.

"We pray that all our neighbours should be brought before our eyes, just like we met today. We want to see everyone," Jayesh said.

As they hugged each other again, they lamented the loss of their neighbours, who had been buried under boulders, mud, and uprooted trees in the blink of an eye.

"Just in the blink of an eye moment, our neighbours were gone," they said, their voices heavy with grief.

"There were over 200 families here. Hindu, Muslim... religion was never a barrier among us," Jayesh said, highlighting the strong bond of unity that existed in their villages.

As they look to the future, they acknowledge that their locality's unique unity may be hard to replicate elsewhere.

"Wherever you relocate us, there's unlikely to be the kind of unity we had here. There's nothing like this anywhere. Our neighbours were like that," they said, their voices filled with a sense of loss.

The number of deaths resulting from the devastating landslides in Kerala on July 30 increased to 226 on Monday, with search and rescue operations still underway in the affected areas.