It was a miraculous escape for a nine-year-old girl who fell into the flooded Telugu Ganga canal and had to stay afloat for about an hour until rescue arrived her.
K. Mounika, who had gone to the forests to collect firewood with her sister, accidentally fell into the swollen canal in the district on Thursday. The tribal girl kept flapping her arms and legs for about an hour in a frantic bid to stay afloat before police rescued her by throwing a rope to her, a delayed report reaching the police headquarters here said.
The girl had to battle for her life for an hour as none had dared to jump into the overflowing canal, that was carrying close to 11,000 cusecs of water at that time. A shepherd in the next village saw her struggling in the swirling waters and informed the local police.
Soon, a team of police personnel from Kaluvoya rushed to the canal and threw a rope to her, which she clung on to without losing hope.
“After an hour-long rescue operation, we were able to bring the brave girl out of the water,” Kaluvoya Sub-Inspector M. Anjaneyulu told The Hindu. The survival of the girl was a miracle as the discharge was very heavy then, he said.
“We had lost all hopes when we got to know about the incident,” said an overwhelmed Mounika’s grandfather, who had come to take her back home.
