Tirtol: Over a week has passed since the severe cyclonic storm Fani struck the Odisha coast causing serious damage to life and properties in the state, but tales of horror caused by the gale continue to pour in from different regions of the state.
Fani has left behind a trail of destruction that would be hard to forget in a long time to come. According to belated reports, a person accidentally got stuck between the branches of a tree at a height of 40 feet for over two hours in Tritol.
The victim, identified as Kumani Mallick (51), is a native of Olagada village under Kolar panchayat in this block of Jagatsinghpur district. Enduring the unbearable, Mallick had lost hope of surviving when fire personnel intervened and rescued him after a long struggle.
The incident occurred a day after the cyclonic storm Fani made its landfall in the state Saturday. Mallick was verifying the damage made by the cyclonic storm to the plants and trees in his backyard when he saw a large branch of a Chakunda tree had broken from the tree and was hanging precariously at a height of 40 feet.
Fearing that with the broken branch might pose a threat to the lives of people; Mallick climbed the tree and tried to cut it down. While he was cutting the large branch, he accidentally got stuck in between the broken and another branch of the tree. Consequently, he was left hanging from the tree for hours.
Mallick tried hard to set himself free and screamed for help. Soon, people rushed to the spot and informed the fire personnel in the area. The fire personnel led by the chief fire officer Kartik Biswal arrived and launched an operation to rescue Mallick.
Fireman Prasant Majhi, Subhash Senapati, Balunkeshwar Singh climbed the tree and rescued Maliick after cutting the broken branch after two hours’ effort. Mallick heaved a sigh of relief after he was brought down from the tree and thanked the Almighty for giving him a new lease of life.
PNN