89-yr-old survives fall into 20-foot well for 12 hours

The woman, V Dharaniammal, a resident of Bhajanai Kovil Street in Ramapuram, was residing alone in the house for the last four years. One of her neighbours had given her coffee at 6 pm. And an hour later when she was going to return the utensil, she slipped into the well and stayed there for over 12 hours.

One of the woman’s relative said, Dharaniammal climbed over a small heap of mud near the well, she skid and fell into it. 

It was one of Dharaniammal’s neighbours, who found her on Monday morning in the well and alerted the fire and rescue officials. It took an hour for the rescue team to get her out of the well using a chair. When the rescue team climbed down, she was conscious but sustained injuries on her back, said official sources. 

The victim lost her husband a few years ago and did not have children. Until recently she used to cook and visit her relatives. However, when she became partially blind and deaf she chose to stay indoors. Her relatives and neighbours would bring her food daily, said Dharaniammal relative. The elderly woman was admitted to Government Royapettah Hospital for treatment.