Trapped in water pipe, worker rescued after 7 hrs

A 55-year-old worker, who slipped into a narrow water pipe of a PHD pumping station here on Thursday morning, was rescued after almost seven hours of struggle by teams from the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and the Fire Services department.

The casual worker identified as Pranakrushna Muduli of local Deulasahi was immediately rushed to a hospital, where his condition was stated to be normal, said District Emergency Officer Prabodh Rout.

Eyewitnesses said Pranakrushna was removing garbage from inside the 2.5-feet diameter pipe laid parallel to the ground near the Tulasipur pump house at around 7.30 in the morning when all of a sudden water started gushing into the pipe pushing him deep inside the pipe encircled with thick concrete. A pump house staff apparently not knowing that a worker was inside the pipe, had switched on the pump.

The civil authorities soon requisitioned ODRAF services and fire brigade personnel. Reaching the spot, the rescue teams soon established contact with Pranakrushna, who by that time had slipped more than 20 feet deep into the pipeline. While the concrete around the pipe was being removed, contacts with Pranakrushna were continuously being made. He was provided with glucose water and oxygen was pumped inside the pipe.

“After struggling for nearly seven hours to remove the concrete around the pipeline, we rescued the elderly person at around 3 pm. He appeared to be normal although he was very nervous and shocked being trapped in the pipeline for so many hours,” said District Chief Fire Officer Sukant Sethy.

The entire rescue operation was monitored by district Collector Sushant Mohapatra, who ordered a departmental probe into the mishap.