Daijiworld Media Network - Bijapur
Bijapur, Jun 20: The 52-hour effort to rescue four-year-old Akshata, who fell into a borewell on Tuesday June 17, ended tragically with the rescue teams retrieving the girl's lifeless body on Thursday June 19 night.
Akshata, daughter of Hanumanth Maipatil and Savitri, both farm labourers, had accidentally fallen into an abandoned borewell at Dyaberi village near Nagatana in the district at around 7.30 pm on Tuesday June 17.
The incident occured when Akshata was walking home with her father. Initially, her parents themselves frantically tried to rescue her, but in the process, mud piled up on the girl which further worsened her situation. Rescue teams were called from various places, including from Hatti Gold Mines, and Sangli and Pune in Maharashtra. Around 10 JCB earthmovers were pressed into action to dig a parallel tunnel to reach the girl. However, the task became difficult due to the presence of hard rocks.
Manikantan, a researcher who has invented a robot that helps rescue people who get stuck in borewells, was brought from Bangalore in a helicopter at the instance of district in-charge minister, M B Patil. Though he attemped to rescue the girl a few times, the efforts went in vain.
On Thursday night, the teams finally managed to reach the girl, only to find her partly decomposed body. A doctor who was on standby at the site said that Akshata might have died about 24 hours ago on Wednesday June 18 night. He said that the mud and water that got deposited on her during the rescue efforts might have blocked the oxygen supply and suffocated her to death. Though oxygen pipes had been passed down the borewell, the rescue teams were not certain whether the pipes had reached the girl at all.
Bijapur district incharge minister M B Patil expressed his condolence at the demise of the girl. He appreciated the efforts of the rescue teams and the district administration in doing their best to save the girl.
The girl's body was shifted to a hospital for post-mortem.