Guwahati: A rescue operation remained underway on Monday, June 29, in Arunachal Pradesh‘s Lower Dibang Valley after a raft carrying rescuers and stranded individuals overturned in the swollen Sisiri River near Dambuk on Sunday.
According to official information, the incident occurred on Saturday when a seven-member rescue team headed to the Sisiri River near Dambuk to evacuate four people who had become stranded after water levels rose.
The rescuers successfully reached three of the stranded individuals and began returning to the riverbank. However, the raft carrying the seven rescuers and the three rescued persons capsized after encountering strong currents.
Five people managed to swim ashore immediately after the raft overturned, while the remaining five were swept away by the fast-flowing river.
Rescue teams later located two of those swept away on a river island, while another was found clinging to a log in the middle of the river. Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) safely rescued the individual trapped on the log, and two more people were brought to safety later on Saturday night.
Officials said that, as of 5:30 am on Monday, eight of the 11 people involved in the incident , including the four originally stranded individuals and the seven-member rescue team, had been rescued.
Three people are still awaiting evacuation from the river islands. Two of them are together on one island, while the third person, who was initially feared missing, has since been located on another island.
Fresh rescue efforts began at around 4:45 am on Monday, with multiple agencies working together to reach the stranded individuals.
Around 30 personnel from the NDRF have been deployed for the operation, assisted by teams from the Arunachal Pradesh Police and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Authorities have also kept an Indian Air Force helicopter on standby at Mohanbari to provide aerial assistance if required. However, continuous rainfall and poor weather conditions have prevented helicopter operations so far.
The Secretary of Civil Aviation and the Deputy Commissioner of Roing shared the latest update, and the Department of Disaster Management, Government of Arunachal Pradesh circulated it.