KOCHI: Ending hours of tension, the search teams that were scouring the Kuttampuzha forest area for more than 14 hours, rescued the three women who went missing after they entered the forest in search of their cattle left for grazing.
Maya Jayan, Darly Stephen and Parukutty of Athikandam near Panthapra had entered the forest around 2 pm on Thursday searching for the cattle they left for grazing on Wednesday. The women were found waiting for help on a rocky terrain at Arakkamutty around 6 km inside the forest at 7.30 am on Friday.
The forest department had launched a massive search at 5 pm on Thursday as the relatives informed that the women have lost their way in the forest after they were chased by wild elephants. Police, fire and rescue team, civil volunteers and local residents formed four teams and searched the Viripara and check dam area on Thursday night but couldn't find the women. Two teams returned to the village around 2 am while another team lit fire and waited for dawn break. The presence of elephant herds in the area had made the search operation risky.
On Friday morning, the forest department relaunched the search using drone and thermal scanning equipment to locate the missing women.
At around 7.30 am the search team found the women waiting on a rock at Arakkamutty area.
"We lost our way inside the forest while trying to escape from wild elephants. We were chased by elephants and had taken refuge on a rock. We heard the calls of search teams in the night but did not respond as there were elephants and wild animals were roaming the area," said Maya Jayan.
The rescue team brought the women to Kuttampuzha around 8.30 am. The cattle had returned to the village on Thursday evening.