UP water tank mishap: Rescue mission carried out on CM Yogi’s instructions, 2 trapped children rescued
A reel-making attempt by five teenagers turned tragic in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district after a ladder on a dilapidated water tank collapsed. One child died, two were injured and two others were rescued by the Indian Air Force after remaining trapped overnight
Lucknow: An attempt to make reels, small video content on social media, by five teenagers turned tragic in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharth Nagar as they fell while climbing down on a dilapidated structure, leading to alarm and panic in the area. One of the children died after falling, while two others faced injuries.
Two others were lucky to be rescued by the Air Force chopper from the abandoned water tank rooftop.
It has now emerged that the prompt rescue operation was facilitated and monitored by the Chief Minister’s office (CMO).
Police officials and district administration officials were also pressed into service for safely evacuating the children. It was on the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that the Air Force was contacted and sought assistance. An Air Force chopper lifted the two kids, trapped there since Saturday, to safety on Sunday.
The incident happened at a water tank in Belasad Tappa Tharouli village of Navgarh tehsil in Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Out of five children who had climbed the tank to make a reel, three fell down after the ladder broke. One child died, while two were injured. Two other children remained trapped on top of the water tank.
As soon as the information about the incident was received, the Chief Minister took immediate cognisance and gave clear instructions to officials that no negligence should be shown in safely rescuing the trapped children. Following his directions, the district administration, police, and disaster management teams reached the spot immediately.
District Magistrate Shivsharanappa GN, considering the seriousness of the situation, requested a helicopter from the Relief Commissioner, which was approved immediately.
The rescue operation also saw several challenges. Due to waterlogging around the tank, the ground had turned swampy, making it impossible to use heavy machinery like JCBs and cranes.
As the local efforts failed in rescuing the children, help was sought from the Indian Air Force. A helicopter was called from Gorakhpur, which reached the spot on Sunday morning and carried out the rescue operation. The Air Force team carefully airlifted both trapped children and brought them down safely.