Tusker falls into marshy area, rescued after 16 hours

Alapuzha: A tusker which ran amok while being broght from Kochi after temple festivities, fell into a marshy waterlogged area at nearby Thuravoor and was rescued after a herculean effort that lasted 16 hours.

The jumbo ran away from the parked truck at the Chertala- Thuravoor junction about 4 AM Tuesday morning while being brought from Kochi after participating in the Thrikkakara temple festivital, held as part of Onam celebrations.

According to reports, the animal broke free of the truck taking it home when the driver stopped for tea at Valamangalam on NH 66 at about 3.30 am. It went on a rampage for about 6 km, destroying an autorickshaw, an electric post and the compound walls of several houses before straying into Ananthankari, a waterlogged area and got trapped in a mire of mud.

The locals, police personnel, elephant rescue workers and mahouts from nearby areas toiled since 8.30 AM to pull out the tusker. The exhausted tusker, named Mullackal Balakrishnan, was pulled up from the swamp in a desperate rescue effort by personnel of several government agencies and over 30 mahouts after 16 hours.