Army succeeds in rescuing youth trapped in mountain cleft in Kerala

After being trapped in a cleft on a mountain face in Malampuzha area of Palakkad district in Kerala for nearly two days, rescue teams of the Army were able to reach R Babu, provide him food and water and then haul him to safety.

Visuals on news channels showed the youth being helped up the mountain by Army personnel, who are part of the specialized teams which arrived here last night from Bengaluru, by strapping him to one of the rescuers.

The visuals also showed the rescue team slowly climbing up by making stops in between to give the youth some rest.

The youth was hauled up to safety by 10:08 am by the Army personnel and successfully completed the massive rescue effort, perhaps the first of its kind in the state, which involved local bodies, NDRF, Coast Guard, with the Air Force also standing by to chip in.

Babu was trapped in a recess on the mountain face, between rocks, in the scorching heat with no water or food since Monday.

Also read: Army reaches Kerala youth trapped in mountain cliff; rescue op begins

According to locals, the youth, along with two others had decided to climb to the top of Cherad hill in Malampuzha on Monday, but the other two abandoned the effort halfway.

However, Babu continued to climb to the top, and after reaching there, slipped and fell and got trapped between rocks on the mountain face.

(With inputs from Agencies)