A 52-year-old man, who fell into the Cooum in Aminjikarai in the early hours on Tuesday, was rescued by a traffic police constable.
Prabhu (52), a construction worker of Aminjikarai, was crossing the road when he slipped through the gap between the old and new bridge on Periyar EVR Salai and fell, from a height of 50 ft, sources said. He suffered fractures and is undergoing treatment at the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital.
Head constable K. Ravi (38) attached to the Aminjikarai Traffic Police told The Hindu that he was on his way to report for duty and the incident occurred at 5.45 a.m. “Since some people were looking curiously at the Cooum below, I got down from my motorcycle and made inquiries. They told me that they could hear the cries of a man but were not able to see him,” Ravi said. Some onlookers, who were at the spot, said the constable walked down to the river bank and spotted a man crying for help. He got into the slushy waters to rescue him.
“Only the face of the man was visible. The rest of the body was in the slush. Luckily, I found a casuarina stick nearby which I extended to him. He had suffered a broken right arm and hip and was struggling to come up. However, he managed to hold on to the stick tight and I pulled him slowly to the bank,” added the policeman. The man was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
