BHUJ, Feb 2: Three employees of a private company were rescued nearly 16 hours after they were stranded on a tidal channel of Harami Nala near the India-Pakistan border in Gujarat’s Kutch district, police said on Sunday.
The men had set out for a survey of land belonging to the Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited (GHCL) in the eastern part of the Harami Nala Creek area using a dredging machine on Friday, but were stranded and unable to return, said Vikas Sunda, Superintendent of Police, Kutch West.
He said a joint rescue operation with the Border Security Force (BSF) was launched as soon as GHCL officials contacted the police on Saturday morning.
“The local police and BSF located the trio based on their last contact coordinates before launching a search and rescue mission,” Sunda told reporters.
He said the BSF teams arrived for the rescue operation, but the conditions were hostile and the terrain inhospitable, so they used a drone camera to locate the trio’s exact position and ensure they were safe.
“The three men were standing on the dredging machine that had almost sunk in the water. Once we were assured of their safety, the Indian Army and Air Force were contacted, and an IAF chopper was also readied. Meanwhile, the BSF entered the area on a boat and rescued them safely. The men were stranded for nearly 16 hours,” he said. (PTI)