'Elephants to the rescue': Wayanad survivor's moving tale of how elephants saved her family

Amid rescue and relief efforts in Kerala's Wayanad following the catastrophic landslide, a survivor, Sujatha Aninanchira, has shared a moving tale of survival.

After her home was buried in the Chooralmala landslides, Sujatha Aninanchira and her family managed to escape to a nearby hill, only to encounter a group of wild elephants. In a remarkable turn of events, the elephants approached and stood silently by the family, offering them comfort during the harrowing night. Sujatha observed what appeared to be tears rolling down the tusker's face as they waited for rescue.

Sujatha shared that in the pitch dark, a wild elephant was only half a meter away from them. "The elephant looked frightened too. I quietly pleaded, 'I had just survived a disaster,' asking it to allow us to rest until we could be rescued. Even though we were so close to the elephant’s legs, it seemed to understand our plight. We stayed there until 6 am, with the elephant watching over us until rescuers arrived. As dawn came, I noticed what looked like tears in the elephant’s eyes", she noted.

Sujatha and her family, now staying at a camp in Meppadi GHSS, described the chaos of the disaster. "The rising water was so high it resembled the sea, with floating trees and destroyed buildings," she said.