Trapped Kerala trekker to be rescued soon: rescuers 200m away

Palakkad: Rescue efforts to extract a trapped trekker in the Malampuzha area of Palakkad in Kerala have begun to show fruit as officials involved say they are only 299m away from the man, who has been sitting in a crevice on the mountainside for 35 hours now.

23-year-old R Babu, has been trapped in a hill cleft in Palakkad's Malampuzha village since Monday. The young man fell through a cleft while trekking with his friends and was trapped in the crevice, from where he was able to send selfies and photos of his location to friends and rescuers.

Friends of the trapped trekker said he had suffered an injury before slipping into the opening in the side of Cherad hill. Babu's friends tried everything, including wooden sticks, logs, ropes, but Babu could not climb up. His friends then went down the hill and informed the local residents and the police.

The Indian Army, Navy and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have launched one of the biggest operations in recent history to rescue Babu, who has been without food and water for the extent of his entrapment. A helicopter had been sent to try to reach him but the severe downdraft experienced prevented rescuers from attempting it. A drone carrying bottled water was also sent but it could not reach him, officials said.

The rescuers are expected to reach the trapped trekker in some time, and are only 200m away from the small gorge where Babu is barely able to sit. They are also considering deploying para troopers to rescue Babu. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the health condition of the 23-year-old is satisfactory and he will be rescued at any time. Babu's mother and brother are camping near base camp.

The mountaineering team of the Indian Army is a part of the rescue operation. The teams made contact with Babu 48 hours after the rescue operation was launched. They have been attempting to keep wild animals away by lighting flambeaus and several members of the rescue team also spotted three bears in the area.