Vizianagaram: Indian Navy rescues stranded shepherd

Vizianagaram: Indian Navy officials rescued a shepherd, D Simhachalam, who was trapped in Suvarnamukhi river near Kottavalasa village in Sithanagaram mandal in early hours of Tuesday.

District officials heaved a sigh of relief after safe landing of Simhachalam at INS Dega in Visakhapatnam.

D Simhachalam of Venkata Bhairipuram village in Makkuva mandal was trapped in Suvarnamukhi river while grazing the sheep on Monday.

Though ITDA officials were ready for the rescue operation, the flood and weather conditions did not allow them to proceed. Therefore, ITDA project officer R Kurmanath appealed to the Indian Navy to arrange helicopter for rescuing the stranded shepherd.

Responding to the request, Navy sent Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) from INS Dega for search and rescue (SAR) of the shepherd.

After arriving at the reported location (approx 120 km from Dega) the aircraft failed to locate him due to heavy rain and pitch-dark conditions. Then a Sea King 42C helicopter with suitable night vision devices was sent for the rescue mission at about 11 pm.

After finding him, the helicopter hovered over the survivor in the river Suvarnamukhi at a very low altitude to pick him up. The aircraft returned to INS Dega wherein first aid was provided and the survivor was later shifted to KGH for further medical treatment. His family members were informed of his wellbeing by the Naval Air Station.