After being stuck in a hole on a cliff in Kerala for more than 40 hours without food and water, 23-year-old R Babu was finally rescued by the Indian Army on Wednesday.
A 75-member team including three Army units, Air Force and NDRF personnel led the rescue effort which got Babu out of the crevice.
How Did Babu Get Trapped?
What was meant to be a fun trekking outing turned into a nightmare for the Cherad native. Babu and three of his friends went hiking to the Kurumbachi hill on February 7 and reached the summit in the afternoon.
However, while on their way down an exhausted Babu slipped and fell down into a hole on the cliff face which was big enough just for him to squat in.
Babu suffered injuries to his leg due to the fall and his friends' efforts to rescue him using sticks and ropes failed. The young man was able to share photos of him using his mobile phone.
How Was Babu Rescued?
Babu's friends made their way down to the base and informed the Malampuzha police. A fire brigade unit and police reached the cliff by midnight but could not begin rescue efforts due to poor visibility.
However, when rescue operations began on Tuesday, the fire brigade found it difficult to locate Babu on the cliff face let alone reach him. After Babu was located using a drone, a Coast Guard helicopter tried rescuing Babu but couldn't get close to him.
The News Minute reported that Palakkad Collector Mrunmayi Joshi Shashank reached out to the Indian Navy to take over the rescue operations and use their helicopter to reach Babu. However, it did not work.
An National Disaster Response Force unit joined the rescue efforts but they were unable to rescue Babu on Tuesday.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asked the Indian Army to step in on Tuesday evening and an Army Special Forces team was dispatched from Bengaluru.
The Army took over rescue operations on Wednesday morning. After more than a day without food and water, an Army official reached Babu and provided him with food and water on Wednesday morning.
Babu was then lifted to the top of the mountain by the official in an operation which took almost 45 minutes.
In visuals shared by Malayalam news channela, a smiling Babu thanked his rescuers.
Babu, who injured his knee, will be shifted to the Palakkad District Hospital.