Theni forest fire: 21 teams move in, nine trekkers put up at O Panneerselvam guest house

THENI: As many as 21 rescue teams have been deployed inside the forest. SP V Baskaran is also in the spot. A separate team from Kerala led by the Munnar Deputy SP is also at the site.Nine of the rescued trekkers had minor injuries and were treated at the Bodi GH. Later Deputy CM O Panneerselvam took them to his guest house in Theni for overnight stay from where they will be sent home on Monday.

After CM Edappadi K Palaniswami called up Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking Air Force support, one helicopter from Sulur airbase in Coimbatore flew in at 7.15 pm to do a survey.
Four helicoptors would be deployed from Monday morning. A team of 20 commandos too have left for the site. As many as 13 ambulances and six medical teams were put on standby to attend to the rescued students.It later emerged that the trek organisers had not sought permission from forest officials.

Speaking to Express, Dhanapal from Chennai said that his daughter Monisha was very interested in trekking and had gone to many places. “She has booked through the Chennai Trekking Club and left on Friday night. They went into the forest from Bodi on Saturday, spent the night there and were returning. When they were trekking down, they noticed smoke. As there was a guide, she along with two other girls came down. She also contacted me and said that she was safe.”

Meanwhile, Kalyanaraman of Chennai said his daughter Sahana said, “Noticing the fire while trekking down they came down through another route safely. I spoke to my daughter and she said that she was safe at the hosipital.”