Indian Air Force airlifts 24 construction workers to safety from floods

The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Sunday rescued 24 construction workers who were stranded by floods in Telangana’s Medak district since Saturday, officials said

An aerial view of the flood-hit Edupalaya village in Medak district of Telangana. Pic/PTI

Hyderabad: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Sunday rescued 24 construction workers who were stranded by floods in Telangana’s Medak district since Saturday, officials said. The rescue operation, which was aborted Saturday evening due to heavy rains, resumed on Sunday morning and lasted for more than an hour. Two Chetak helicopters pressed into service airlifted the migrant labourers stranded on an island in Manjeera river at Yedupayala, officials said.

While the state government put the number of rescued workers at 24, IAF put the figure at 23. “The operation lasted for more than an hour wherein the Indian Air Force successfully airlifted 23 construction workers trapped on an island amidst strong currents and moved them to safer places,” said an IAF statement.

The migrant labourers from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha were engaged in construction of three bridges in the area. Telangana assembly’s Deputy Speaker Padma Devender Reddy and Medak District Collector D. Ronald Ross had sought help from the IAF after the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team informed them that it cannot undertake rescue operation with boat due to boulders in the river bed.

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