Meppadi: Priyadarshini Paul, a native of Odisha, who came to Wayanad for her honeymoon, will now return home alone. Only Priyadarshini and her friend Sveekriti, who had accompanied their husbands for a trip to Wayanad, survived the deadly landslides.
Priyadarshini arrived at Linora resort in Chooralmala a day before the tragedy with her husband, Dr Bishnu Prasad Chinara from AIIMS, Bhubaneswar. The couple was accompanied by Dr Sveekriti Mohapatra and her husband, Dr Swadheen Panda. Priyadarshini is a nurse at Bhubaneswar Hi-Tech Hospital.
When the landslide wiped out the resort, everyone was trapped in the gushing waters. They had all slept late the previous night. Upon waking to the sound of the disaster, Priyadarshini realized the resort was buried underground. She and Sveekriti were swept 200 meters in the neck-high mud. They were prevented from being swept further away by the school premises. Rescue workers heard their screams and saw two people crying for help. The women informed the rescuers that there were four people in total who had been swept away. While searching for the others, a second landslide occurred, and the rescue workers quickly evacuated the young women from the spot.
Priyadarshini, left alone in the hospital, waited until her relatives arrived to join her. She was given company by a Meppadi native who was taking care of her mother. Priyadarshini's husband, Dr Bishnu Prasad Chinara's body was recovered from Chooralmala the previous day and has since been taken home. Dr Swadhin Panda is yet to be found, and his wife, Sveekriti, is undergoing treatment for serious injuries. Dr Tahir, a Wayanad native who studied with Priyadarshini's husband, learned about the accident from a friend and assisted her relatives.
