Villagers form human chain, rescue four from drowning in Gadag

GADAG: In a dramatic rescue operation, villagers and the police pulled out four people to safety after their car got stuck in the middle of a gushing stream near Nelugal village of Lakshmeshwar in Gadag district on Thursday night. It was a night and rain had picked up pace since Thursday afternoon. The four friends who were travelling in the car had no idea that the stream had such force and waded through. When they were in the middle of the bridge, they got stuck as water was flowing over the canal.

After waiting for a few minutes, they got down from the vehicle, but soon started getting washed away in the flood. Three of them got hold of a tree, while the other climbed on top of a rock in the middle of the stream. Their loud cries for help and the unmoving car in the middle of the bridge with headlights on attracted the attention of villagers. They called up the police, other villagers and gathered near the stream in large numbers. The police planned a human chain and expert swimmers led the people to rescue the stranded passengers.  

Two swimmers managed to reach the tree and brought three stranded people to safety, while another team rescued the lone person who was sitting on top of the rock. “It is a new lease of life and we thank everyone who saved us,” said the rescued.

Dr Prabhu Mansoor, Basavanagouda Tegginmani, Veeresh Dambal and Chennaveergouda Patil, all aged 40 and residents of Hebbal village near Shirahatti, are the rescued. They were returning from Nelugal village. Soon after the rescue operation, the car got washed away and was stuck near the retaining wall of the stream.

“We saw the car stranded over the bridge. When we heard screams, we informed the police and other villagers. As the car was being washed away, the passengers started getting down, but they could not come out as the stream was flowing at high speeds. We decided to form a human chain and rescued them,” said a villager from Nelugal.

Biker washed away in stream 
In another incident in Gadag district, a 26-year-old man who was returning home on his two-wheeler was washed away in a stream near Mundargi. The stream, known as Koti Halla, was overflowing after heavy rain. The deceased, Tipu Sultan, was coming home from Uppina Betageri after meeting a girl for a marriage proposal. His body was found on Friday morning.