Two-year-old rescued from 45-feet deep pit

OUT AT LAST: Vandana's ordeal began when she fell into the borewell on Tuesday evening.

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Tehra (Agra): It took over 27 hours but the army rescue team and the district administration in Agra managed to rescue two-year-old Vandana from the borewell she fell into at about 1800 hrs IST on Tuesday evening.

Vandana proved to be the supreme survivor, beating all odds after more than a day inside a 45-foot-deep, one-and-half foot wide borewell hole.

She emerged from her deathtrap into the arms of her saviours - the men and officers of the local army cantonment and her parents.

Her ordeal began when she fell into the borewell on Tuesday evening, stumbling into it while playing with her friends.

Her friends alerted their parents and police and local authorities were called in. Though they were unable to pull her out but took the decision that would eventually save her life.

They managed to sustain her with glucose drip and oxygen cylinders and called in the army, which then began the complex operation of rescuing her.

Meanwhile, Vandana was trapped in the dark claustrophobic hole and unaware of the massive rescue operation being carried out 45-feet above her.

More than 300 army personnel and officers with the help of four cranes slowly dug a parallel pit down to a few feet deeper than where Vandana was stuck with painstaking precision.

After that, hollowed out metal barrels were lowered into the second bore to make a clear path for the rescuers to pull Vandana out.

Finally, a member of the rescue team crawled through the connecting tunnel and carried Vandada out on his back.

"It was actually the effort of the army who had put in all the hard work. They were doing their job since last night. The local police and the administration were also giving full support. The medical department had put in their team, which were helping them regularly. Most important thing is that the local people though there was big crowd but everyone was supporting the action. She has been taken to SN Medical College in Agra," District Commissioner, Sitaram Meena, said.

District Magistrate, Agra, Mukesh Kumar Meshram confirmed that Vandana has been taken to SN Medical College for a medical checkup.

"The rescue operations had started off yesterday night by the EME and the machinery at Jaipur Highway was used to rescue Vandana. The girl is normal according to the doctors and there is a possibility her suffering from dehydration," Mehram said.

The District Magistrate also said that they would also inquire why the borewell was left open.

"An inquiry would be done as to who had ordered digging of the borewell in the village and why it was left uncovered," he said.

DIG of Agra Kamal Saxena said that luck played a major role in Vandana’s rescue.

"When we were digging the horizontal hole it was the most critical time because we were not sure and we were afraid that the earth might cave in. In fact that is exactly what happened. We were very pessimistic but we took our chances and cleared the mess. The girl slipped further in and it was just a matter of luck that we were able to locate her in time and took her out finally. The girl was very tenacious and was fighting till the last moment," Saxena said.