Kerala: Trekker trapped in small cleft on Cherad hill for 2 days; Army, Air Force ops on to save him

Palakkad (Kerala): The 23-year-old youth on Wednesday continued to remain stuck in a hill cleft, as frantic rescue operations by the Indian Army is underway to pull out.

It has now been over 43 hours when he fell into the hill cleft, rescuers could not reach him or provide him with food and water.

In a great relief, a mountaineering team of the Indian Army was able to reach 200 metres near to the trapped youth who responded to their call, sources said.

The mountaineering experts from the Indian Army with all the modern equipments reached Cherad Hill at Malampuzha for the rescue of the youth.

R Babu hailing from Cheradu at Malampuzha, slipped and fell into the cleft on Monday noon while descending the nearby Kurumbachi hills at Elichiram in Palakkad district of Kerala.

The accident happened when Babu and three of his friends were trekking in the hills.

Two Army Officers, two JCOs and five other ranks from Wellington arrived at the location last night.

On Tuesday, an Indian Coast Guard's Chetak Helicopter attempted a rescue operation, but, due to inclement weather, they were unable to complete the mission. Coast Guard Helicopter will be attempting the next sortie in the early hours of Wednesday, defence sources added.

Indian Air Force (IAF) transported another mountaineering team of Indian Army from Bangalore to Sulur to send them to Malampuzha.

On Tuesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought the help of the Army to rescue the youth following the request from the district administration.

General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Dakshin Bharat, Lieutenant General A Arun informed the Chief Minister's office last evening that a special team left to Palakkad by road for the rescue operation.

Meanwhile, another team of Para Commandos from Bangalore left for Palakkad. They were airlifted to Sulur Airbase from Bangalore and later they reached Malampuzha by road. (UNI)