Bhubaneswar, Nov 14 (PTI) An 80-year-old woman fell into an abandoned 20-feet-deep borewell in Odisha’s Sonepur district, following which she was rescued in a critical condition after an operation that lasted for several hours, police said on Tuesday.
The incident took place in a forested area near Kainphula village in Sadar block when the woman, identified as Dukhi Negi, was out to collect firewood on Monday evening, a police officer said.
Locals searched for the woman the entire night and also informed the police. She was found in the borewell on Tuesday morning, following which the Fire Services and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) launched the rescue operation that lasted for around five hours.
Her family claimed that she was deaf and mute.
The rescue team supplied oxygen into the borewell to help the woman breathe and dug a parallel hole to bring her out.
Sonepur Superintendent of Police Amaresh Panda said that after being rescued, her pulse rate was found to be very low and she was taken to a hospital.
A snake was also found along with the woman but it is yet to be confirmed whether she was bitten by the reptile, he said.
Gopabandhu Nayak, a member of the rescue team, said the woman was in a sitting position with her hands pressed against the wall of the borewell.
“We dug another hole close to the borewell to rescue her. During the search operation, we could see her but she was not responding to commands,” Assistant Fire Officer Dhananjay Mallik said.
“Oxygen was supplied to the woman and a parallel hole was dug,” Fire Services DG Sudhanshu Sarangi told reporters. PTI AAM AAM ACD
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