Moment worker is miraculously taken out of narrow drain after harrowing seven hours

By Taniya Dutta 

This is the miraculous moment rescuers evacuate an Indian worker who spent seven harrowing hours trapped inside a two and half feet wide storm water drain.

Pranakrushna Muduli, 55, had just begun removing garbage from the 30-feet long underground drain in Cuttack district of eastern Odisha state on Friday morning, when staff manning an adjacent  pumping station negligently switched it on.

Hamid Ashraf/ Caters News

Officials said Muduli was swept 20 to 25 feet inside the drain due to the sudden gushing water.

Due to the shallow width of the drain, Muduli was stuck in a crouched position and could not come out on his own.

A joint team of Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force and the fire department worked for nearly seven hours to rescue the trapped labourer as hundreds of onlookers watched on.

The team first used a mini excavator to dig their way to  the spot where the labourer was trapped but was forced to press into service drill machines and hand-held cutters due to thick concrete casing around the drain. 

Hamid Ashraf/ Caters News

The trapped worker was provided oxygen and drinking water as he remained trapped inside.

“Concrete pipes and slabs were cut to extricate the victim without injury,” DG of Police (Fire Services) Bijay Kumar Sharma said.

Muduli was discharged after treatment at hospital even as authorities have ordered a probe into the incident.