Wayanad landslide: Elephant comes to rescue woman, family; survivors recall ‘tears rolling down’ giant tusker’s eyes

Wayanad landslide: When things were falling apart, and the gusting flood water looked as intimidating as a sea, a group of elephants came to rescue a woman and her family in one of Kerala's worst landslides and flooding incidents in history.

Sujatha Aninachira and her family are among a few lucky people who managed to save their lives in the landslide incident, which has left hundreds of people dead and several others missing. When Sujatha and her family members escaped the disaster by climbing a hillock, they encountered a wild tusker and two female elephants standing inches away from them, and what transpired was beyond anyone's imagination.

Recalling the time of the disaster, Sujatha shared how her neighbouring two-story house collapsed and destroyed her own house. Sujatha, her son Gireesh, daughter-in-law Sujitha, and granddaughter Mridula were buried under the rubble of their house.

"I heard my granddaughter, Mridula, crying as I managed to get out. I grabbed hold of her little finger, pulled her out of the rubble eventually, covered her with a cloth, and began swimming through the flooding water,” Indian Express quoted Sujatha as saying.

Eventually, the other members of her family also rescued themselves and reached the shore near a hilltop. After reaching the hilltop, the family saw a tusker and two female elephants near them. As the wild animals inched closer, Sujatha burst into tears and requested the animals to spare their lives.

How the elephant behaved

“It was pitch dark, and just half a meter away from us stood a wild tusker. It, too, seemed terrified. I mumbled a plea to the elephant, saying we had just survived a disaster, and asked it to lie down for the night and let someone rescue us,” The Times of India quoted Sujatha.

To her surprise, the elephants came close to her and stood silently. Sujatha also recalled tears rolling down the elephant's eyes as it stood there until the family members were not rescued by other people in the morning.

“We were very close to the tusker’s legs, but it seemed to understand our predicament. We stayed there until 6 a.m., and the elephants also stood there until we were rescued by some people in the morning. I could see its eyes welling up as the dawn broke,” Sujatha added.