Rajouri, July 29: The joint teams of army, police, SDRF and civil administration on Friday afternoon succeeded in rescuing 31 people stuck in flooded river at Chandak Bela in Poonch district, in a massive rescue operation that lasted more than 24 hours. This rescue operation was launched on Thursday afternoon after it came to the fore that 31 people were stuck in the middle of a flooded river at Chandak Bela and were unable to come out due to strong water currents.
At least three different attempts were made by rescue teams on Thursday to rescue them but all attempts turned futile due to strong water currents.
Meanwhile on Friday, army teams along with police, SDRF and civil administration put into use the motor boats and managed to rescue all thirty- one people from two different spots in the river.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Poonch, Dr Basharat Hussain said, “All 31 people stuck in the river at Chandak Bela were rescued on Friday, which was the second day of the rescue operation.”
He said that rescue teams left no stone unturned in their efforts to save these precious lives. “The team personnel engaged in the operation even put their lives at stake to rescue them,” he said.
ADC further informed that a total of three different rescue operations were conducted across the district in the last 2 days in which 50 people were rescued.
Earlier, nineteen persons were rescued from flooded rivers in two different operations on Thursday. In the third operation launched at Chandak Bela, where 31 people were stuck on a piece of land located in the middle of the river, this morning initially the army had managed to rescue four persons, including two children, using motor-boats. By Friday afternoon, all thirty-one people were rescued.
“The rescue operation this morning was resumed at 6 o’clock and it ended at 3 o’clock in the afternoon,” officials said.
Prior to it, four men were rescued by teams during the intervening night of July 27 and 28 at Jhullas in Poonch and fifteen other persons were rescued on Thursday afternoon at Dariya in Poonch.
(WITH INPUTS FROM ISHRAT HUSSAIN BUTT)