A drone view of a landslide site in Chooralmala in Wayanad district.
A story written by a schoolgirl in Kerala allegedly premonitioned the massive landslides in Kerala's Wayanad that killed nearly 300 people and injured more than 200.
"If it rains, landslides will hit the waterfall, engulfing everything in their path, including human lives," were the prophetic lines in the story written by the Class 8 student for her school magazine last year.
A year later, devastating landslides flattened her town, Chooramala. And, her school - Government Vocational Higher Secondary School in Chooramala's Vellarmala - has been completely buried under debris. She has also lost her father to the devastation, as per a report by Indian Express.
The student, Laya, wrote a story about a girl who drowns in a waterfall but comes back as a bird to warn two friends about an impending danger.
In the story, two friends - Anaswara and Alamkrita - go to see a waterfall without telling their parents. Soon, the bird approaches the girls and asks them to leave immediately.
"Leave now, children. It's dangerous up ahead," the bird warns the girls.
The children flee the area before looking back to see the rainwater cascading down the hill. They also see the bird transform into the little girl, saving them from meeting the same fate as her.
Laya had written the story, 'Agrahathinte Duranubhavam' (The Misery of Desire) for her school's digital magazine 'Vellaram Kallukal'.
The first landslide occurred at 2 am on Tuesday, followed by another at 4:10 am, damaging homes and livelihoods. Many areas, such as Meppadi, Mundakkai and Chooralmala, have been isolated, and roads have been washed away.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held a high-level meeting in Wayanad last night to take stock of the situation. He said that rescue will be the main priority and that rehabilitation will be done at the earliest.
Leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and Wayanad MP, Rahul Gandhi, described the landslides as a "terrible tragedy". The Congress leader, who arrived in Wayanad a day ago to take stock of the destruction, also sought an urgent comprehensive action plan to deal with it.