UP: Teen dies after falling off water tank as stairs collapse; IAF rescues other two

The stranded children were rescued at around 5.20 am, in an operation lasting about 15 minutes and were later taken to Gorakhpur for treatment.

Lucknow: Two youths, who had climbed atop a water tank in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharth Nagar town, to shoot reel but got stuck up there after the stairs collapsed, were rescued by an Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper after 15-hours on Sunday.

According to the reports, five youths had tried to climb atop the water tank, situated in Kanshiram Housing colony in the town on Saturday allegedly to shoot reel for social media.

While two managed to climb, the other three fell to the ground after the stairs crumbled, injuring them seriously. One of them, identified as Siddharth, a resident of Jhulinpur in the district, later succumbed to his injuries while the other two were undergoing treatment at hospital.

Two others, identified as Pawan and Kallu, were stuck atop the tank as the stairs had collapsed.

Local officials, who reached the spot after getting information, tried to bring them down but could not succeed.

The district administration later contacted the IAF to rescue the stranded teens. An IAF chopper was pressed into service for this purpose and the teens were rescued on Sunday morning, sources said.

In a social media post, the IAF said that ‘’On a request from state government authorities, an IAF Mi 1 VS of Central Air Command (CAC) was deployed to rescue two stranded children, who were stuck up on top of a water tank in Siddharth Nagar. The children were stranded as the ladder of the water tank was damaged. The rescue mission, yet again, displays the IAF’s professionalism and commitment to save lives with a swift response in times of need’’.