BHUBANESWAR: An 18-month-old girl who had fallen into a 30 feet-deep well was rescued by fire services personnel in Padampur village within Puintala police limits of Balangir on Friday. Before firefighters could reach, it was a local who acted as the first responder and jumped into the well to rescue the child. However, when he could not get out of the well, the fire services were called in.
The quick intervention of Odisha Fire and Emergency Service personnel eventually led to the rescue of the toddler along with the person who had jumped to protect her. The incident took place between 1 pm and 1.30 pm. A team consisting of about seven personnel left Balangir Fire Station and reached the spot within seven to eight minutes. The firefighters said the well was not covered and had water up to waist height. After the child fell into it, a local immediately jumped to her rescue but was unable to come out.
“Due to hot weather, the well had dried up. It had waist-deep water because of recent rainfall activity and it was enough to drown the kid. The man who had jumped into the well kept holding onto the girl and saved her life,” said an officer of Balangir fire station.
When firefighters reached the spot, the child was screaming in pain. They immediately used a rope ladder and rescued her followed by the man. The girl was rushed to a hospital and her condition is stated to be stable. Neither the child nor the man sustained any major injury in the incident. The girl was identified as Adyasa, the daughter of Jitendra Biswal.