19-year-old girl falls between rocks while clicking selfies at Tumakuru lake, rescued after 15-hour op

TUMAKURU: A 19-year-old girl, who had slipped and fallen into a crevice among rocks at the Mydala Kere in the taluk on Sunday evening while taking selfies, was rescued on Monday after a 15-hour operation by the Fire and Emergency Services personnel.

Hamsa, a resident of Shivapura village in Gubbi taluk, had gone along with her friend Keerthana to the overflowing lake while returning from Mandaragiri. While trying to take selfies, Hasma slipped and fell between some rocks below. Luckily, there was only about knee-deep water at that spot.

Friend Keerthana hugs Hamsa after the latter was rescued.

Speaking from her hospital bed after her rescue, Hamsa said, “After visiting Mandaragiri, we went to see the overflowing lake. After taking selfies, we were about to return when I slipped and fell. I don’t know how to swim, but luckily, I got stuck between some rocks. I am not hurt, but I have pain as I was standing on my knee. Otherwise, I would have been washed away. Through the rocks, I could see the sky. I thank the tahsildar and the fire brigade for rescuing me”.

Hamsa said when she heard the rescuers some near her the first time, she raised an alarm but said they couldn’t hear her due to the sound of the water. “But when a second team came nearby, I screamed louder and they heard me. It is alway better to be safer while taking selifes”, she said.

The lake where the two friends had gone on Sunday.

Hamsa is the daughter of Somanath, a resident of Shivapura. She had gone to Mandaragiri for the weekend. She is now undergoing treatment at the ICU of the government hospital in Tumakuru.

Hamsa’s father Somanath said they had almost given up home on finding her alive.

“We almost had given up hope, but my daughter has come back alive and it is nothing short of a miracle. It is like a second birth for my daughter. She is a student of SIT College of Engineering and had gone out with her friends from her SSLC days”, Somanath said.