Cuttack: Fire Service personnel had a tough time rescuing a drunk youth, who got stranded on an islet in the Mahanadi near Banki in Odisha’s Cuttack district on Sunday night.
The youth, identified as Chandan Behera from Ramchandrapur village, walked into the middle of the river from Sunadei ghat around 11 pm, and threatened to end his life. Two villagers went looking for him and the trio got stranded on the islet following a sudden rise in the water level. One of them somehow managed to swim across the ghat and informed the Fire Services Department, which launched a rescue operation.
Though the team safely rescued an elderly man, they had a harrowing time spotting the youth, who hid near some bushy areas for long time and later, he jumped into the river.
He was subsequently rescued after nearly four hours and rushed to a hospital, sources said.
