Meppadi: After a two-week-long search deep inside the forest, a combined team of the Forest Department, Tribal Department, Fire Force, and police traced a missing tribal family to a rocky cave near the Soochippara waterfalls here on Monday.

Santha, who was pregnant, her husband Krishnan, and their two-and-a-half-year-old son had been missing from the Erattukund tribal settlement near Attamala since November 17. As the woman was due for delivery and had certain complications, the Tribal Department and health workers had been preparing to admit her to Vythiri Taluk Hospital.

According to health workers, the woman delivered inside the cave. The newborn reportedly died soon after birth and was buried in the jungle.

Santha had earlier been admitted to the hospital due to pre-delivery complications, but she returned to the tribal settlement without informing the authorities. Later, Tribal Department volunteers located her and ensured that she was safe.

During the devastating landslide and continuous rain, this family sought refuge in a rocky cave deep in the forest, believing it was safer than the outside world. They survived by eating edible leaves, fishing in rivulets, and hunting small wildlife, according to officials.

After the landslide, the Forest Department rescued the family from the cave through a risky operation. A photograph showing a child being carried by a Forest Department official went viral on social media.

Forest Department sources said the family often went into the jungle to collect wild honey and would stay in caves and other sheltered spots for days. Though the family was rehabilitated after the Mundakkai–Chooralmala disaster, they later returned to the forest cave.