Kerala trekker stuck on hill in Malampuzha rescued after 45 hours

Youth trapped in a niche on Palakkad's Malampuza has been rescued after a 45-hour long rescue mission led by the Indian Army.

Palakkad (Kerala): Youth trapped in a niche on Palakkad's Malampuza has been rescued after a 45-hour long rescue mission led by the Indian Army mountaineering teams, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Wednesday morning.

R Babu, a 23-year-old from Cheradu, Malampuzha, slipped and fell into a deep gorge on Monday while descending the nearby Kurumbachi hill at Elichiram. Babu, along with three of his friends, had trekked the hills on Monday afternoon. While trekking downhill, an exhausted Babu slipped and fell down into the niche. The youth even suffered injuries to his leg during the fall. The friends' attempts to rescue Babu using vines and sticks went in vain. Following this, Babu's friends went down the hill and informed the locals and police of the situation.

A unit of the Kerala Fire and Rescue and the Malampuzha police reached the spot by midnight. They were unable to initiate rescue activities due to visibility issues. By Tuesday, a Coast Guard helicopter arrived at the spot in an attempt to airlift Babu as per the request of Palakkad district collector Mrunmayi Joshi.

However, due to inclement weather and rugged topography, the rescue attempt by the coast guard helicopter was aborted as the pilot could not land the chopper on the hill.

Earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also intervened and sought the help of the Army to rescue the youth. "A team from Bengaluru, which specialises in mountaineering and rescue, another team from Wellington, in Tamil Nadu and the Air Force will be part of the rescue mission," CM's office informed.

The Kerala Forest Department had earlier warned visitors of the risks in trekking the steep Kurumbachi hill located six kilometers away from Cheradu, as it is frequented by wild animals.