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Given second life, says Kerala trekker rescued after nearly 50 hours
R Babu was admitted to a hospital after being provided food and water by rescuers, whom he embraced and thanked profusely after a precarious operation in which several evacuation attempts by helicopters failed
Nearly 50 hours after being trapped in a cleft on a treacherous hill in Kerala’s Palakkad district, 23-year-old trekker R Babu was on Wednesday brought to safety by a mountaineering team of the Indian Army in a marathon rescue operation that began a day earlier.
Babu was admitted to a hospital after being provided food and water by rescuers, whom he embraced and thanked profusely after a precarious operation in which several evacuation attempts by helicopters failed.
“A daring mission, Indian Army Team from Southern Command has rescued the stranded trekker, Mr Babu to safety from the dangerous cliff, across the treacherous rocky mountain face,” the army’s Southern Command tweeted after the operation.
“A big thank you, Indian Army,” said Babu, sitting among army personnel on top of the 1,000-metre high Kurumbachi hillock in Malampuzha’s Cherad hill after his recue. The army later released a video in which he was seen hugging its personnel, and chanted “Indian Army ki jai”. The trekker was later airlifted and admitted to the district hospital in Palakkad, with television channels beaming the final moments of the operation live on Wednesday.
“In a spectacular action, highly qualified Teams of Indian Army have successfully rescued Mr Babu who slipped off a cliff & was stranded in a steep gorge for over 48 hours. The operation was coordinated by #DakshinBharatArea under the aegis of #SouthernCommand,” the army tweeted.
After his rescue, which was completed around 10am, the efforts to airlift him to the hospital also experienced a hiccup as a Mi-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force being unable to land on the mountain top, television visuals showed. The chopper attempted to land on the mountain top and when it was unsuccessful, it gained altitude and circled the mountain before coming back for a second landing attempt.
When the second attempt at landing also did not succeed, Babu was lifted onto the helicopter.
On the way to the hospital, he told an official that “it was his second life and he was really indebted to all who saved him”, a person involved in the operation said, asking not to be named.
Palakkad district medical officer Dr Rema Devi said Babu will be under observation for 48 hours and he will be provided psychiatric counselling to overcome the trauma. Palakkad district collector Mrunmai Joshi said he was responding well to treatment.
“It was a difficult operation but our brave men did it. Teams from the parachute regimental centre in Bengaluru and a skilled high-altitude warfare team from the Madras Regiment, including a couple of mountaineers who scaled Mount Everest, began their operation last night and rescued him,” said Lt General A Arun, head of the Southern Army command.
He said his men scanned the hilly terrain through the night and identified the location of the trekker by dawn with the help of drones. “Two skilled men crawled down more than 250 feet till they reached the trekker. Since the terrain was so steep, they took a decision to go up the mountain instead of going down. Injured on his legs and drained out, he was physically carried to the top of the hill,” the army officer said.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan thanked the rescuers after the operation. “Our worries have been put to rest as the young man was located and rescued. It is a big relief for the state. Thanks to our soldiers who led the rescue operation and those who helped and supported them,” he said.
Babu, who lives in Cherad village and works as a newspaper distributor, climbed the Kurumbachi hillock on Monday with two of his friends. While descending, he fell into a crevice on one side of the hill but managed to hold on to a rock and later climbed up into the cleft and sat in it.
When his friends failed to reach him, they informed the local police and firemen by noon on Monday. Initially, he sent photos of his location to his family members and friends but was later incommunicado after his phone battery drained out.
Though coast guard and navy choppers started the search operation on Tuesday, they failed to locate him due to the difficult terrain. Later, the government sought the army’s help and its teams were airlifted and deployed at the hill range.
“I was confident that my son will return alive. We are really indebted to those who helped us,” said P Rasheeda, Babu’s mother who was camping at the foot of the hill since Monday. She said her son was not a trained trekker and went to the hill with his friends without informing her. A team of 75 personnel from the army, IAF and the National Disaster Response Team were involved in the rescue operation besides men from the state police and the firefighting force.
(With inputs from PTI)
