GUWAHATI: Nineteen people were rescued by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from the middle of Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday morning. The IAF used a Mi-17 helicopter in the rescue operation carried out in the wee hours.
A defence spokesman told TNIE that the defence authorities had received a request from East Siang Deputy Commissioner T Tatak on Thursday night for the rescue of 30 persons stranded on an island of the river.
"One Mi-17 launched from Mohanbari (in Upper Assam's Dibrugarh) at first light at 4:38 am. Nineteen persons, including 13 adults and six children, were rescued in five sorties. Six persons, including two children, were winched up. The rest of the people were rescued by landing," the spokesman added.
It was learnt that the rescued adults were engaged in dairy farming. It may be mentioned that the Arunachal Pradesh government has already issued an advisory asking people not to venture around Siang after China had opened the gates of some dams on Yarlung Tsangpo to release water of the swelling river. Northern China received excessive rainfall this year causing flooding in Tsangpo.