Odisha: Man trapped in middle of river airlifted to safety after 20 hours

Malkangiri (Odisha), Sep 1 (PTI) A 45-year-old man, stranded for over 20 hours on a rock in the middle of river Saberi on the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, was rescued after being airlifted on Monday, police said.

The man, identified as Irma Sodhi of Kotamateru village in Malkangiri, was trapped in the river after his boat capsized, while returning home from Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on Sunday, they said.

After the boat capsized, Sodhi kept on swimming with the help of a tree branch for some time before he hit a big rock in the middle of the river over which he stayed overnight.

He was spotted by people from the other side of the river, who informed the Malkangiri district administration and local MLA Narasingha Madkami, police said.

While the Malkangiri district administration took up the matter with its counterpart in Sukma, the MLA contacted BJP’s Sukma unit president, who expedited the rescue operation.

“Initially, the fire services personnel of Odisha tried to rescue Sodhi, but could not go near him due to the strong river current. Finally, a helicopter of the air force arrived from Jagdalpur and airlifted Sodhi to safety. He was rushed to a hospital in Sukma and his condition is stated to be stable,” Madkami said. PTI CORR AAM RBT