Army rescues Kerala trekker trapped on hill for 2 days, gets kisses in return

A trekker trapped in a cleft on a mountain face in Kerala’s Palakkad district for nearly two days was rescued on Wednesday by Army teams, which provided him food and water and then hauled him up to safety.

After the rescue, the Army’s Southern Command tweeted, “#OP_PalakkadIn a daring mission Indian Army Team from #SouthernCommand has rescued the stranded trekker, Mr Babu to safety from the dangerous cliff, across the treacherous rocky mountain face. #WeCare @adgpi. “#OP_Palakkad In a spectacular action, highly qualified Teams of Indian Army have successfully rescued Mr Babu who slipped off a cliff & was stranded in a steep gorge for over 48 hours. The operation was coordinated by #DakshinBharatArea under the aegis of #SouthernCommand @adgpi.”

After his rescue, the efforts to airlift him to a hospital also saw some drama with the Mi-17 Helicopter of the Indian Air Force, which arrived to take him, being unable to land on the mountain top, as per the visuals on news channels. The visuals showed the chopper attempting to land on the mountain top and when that could not be done, it gained altitude and circled the mountain before coming back for a second landing attempt.

When the second attempt at landing also did not fructify, Babu was lifted onto the chopper by strapping him to a stretcher-basket of sorts which was then pulled into the aircraft using a pulley in the helicopter. He was then admitted to the Palakkad district hospital.

After being hauled up to safety, visuals released by the Army showed a happy and relieved Babu sitting in the middle of his rescuers and kissing them on their cheeks as thanks for saving his life. “Very thanks to the Indian Army,” he said.