In what is hailed as nothing short of a miracle, an 18-year-old girl was fished out from the waters of the Mahanadi river in Odisha’s Jharsuguda district after she kept swimming and floating for more than 12 hours along 50 km-long river course after slipping into it.
The girl, identified as Soni Yadav, had fallen into Mahanadi River near Chandrahasini Devi Temple in Janjgir district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday evening and three fishermen had heard her frail voice near Kushmel village in Odisha’s Jharsuguda district around 6 a.m. on Wednesday.
Surrendered to currentsIn between, as Soni told to villagers of Kushmel and local police, she swam for some time, helplessly surrendered her to strong water current of Mahanadi, lost consciousness and again swam after regaining sense.
Slipped into waters“I had come for a darshan of deity Chandrahasini on Tuesday. While washing my hands and legs at Mahanadi ghat, I slipped into river. I could not immediately swim ashore due to strong water current,” the girl said.
After rescue in Odisha, the girl was admitted in Lakhanpur Hospital where doctors declare her out of danger. But she was kept under observation for 24 hours.
Odisha police contacted its counterpart in Chhattisgarh and established identity of the girl.
The girl was handed over to her aunt, Sunita Yadav, on Thursday. Villagers of Kushmel, who witnessed such an incredible event, also accompanied them to her village in Chhattisgarh.
