Cow rescued from manhole in Chennai

CHENNAI: Volunteers of Blue Cross of India rescued a cow that fell into a manhole at Pallikaranai here on Sunday.
P Tamilvathy, a Pallikaranai resident, was informed by her sister that a cow was stuck in a manhole in Erikarai Street. Tamilvathy alerted fire and rescue services deppartment.

The efforts of the fire services personnel hardly paid off. "For almost half an hour, they kept trying to rescue the cow, but it was not yielding any effort. Meanwhile, I dialled Blue Cross, whose volunteers rushed to this place. They arrived here in half an hour. Within the next five minutes, the cow was rescued," Tamilvathy said.

Volunteers with the Blue Cross used a plastic sheet, called glide, that was partially put inside the manhole. Three rescuers used all their might to pull out the cow, weighing over 500kg, using a rope for support.

"We received a call saying that a cow had been stuck in a narrow tank for an hour and a half. The staff present there was pouring water into the hole to get the cow out, but it wasn't working. We pulled the heavy cow out over the glide so as not to injure her. It barely took us ten minutes to rescue the cow," said Santhosh Kumar, a volunteer.

"Since the volunteers are trained in carrying out sensitive rescues and we have equipment to assist us in the same, the time taken is less." said Blue Cross of India general manager Dawn William.

“The cow weighed over 500kg, which made it challenging for the fire and rescue services personnel to rescue it,” he said.

The cow was in good health condition. It was washed and let go.