Russian rescued from cave

Cave was flooding in high tide; he seemed unable to walk

Lifeguards rescued a Russian national from a rapidly flooding coastal cave at Keri in north Goa on Thursday.

Officials said lifeguard Girish Talkar of Drishti Marine stationed at the Keri beach area spotted the man in a small narrow cave along the shoreline during a routine patrol.

The Russian, later identified as Valenti, was in obvious distress as the cave was flooding quickly due to the high tide. He also appeared to be physically challenged and was unable to walk.

Mr. Talkar immediately called for back-up. Meanwhile, ambulance and police patrol team were alerted.

Soon afterwards, lifeguards Dhako, Jayesh and Vikram joined Girish in the rescue operation. Valenti was evacuated on a spine board and brought to shore. His vitals were checked and he appeared to be normal.

He was shifted to the ambulance and transported to the Public Health Centre at Mapusa.

Contact was later established with Valenti’s brother who lives in Russia. The Russian embassy was also informed.