About 40 students trapped in forest fire in Theni hills; 15 rescued till now

About 40 college students were trapped in a forest fire in the hills above Kurangani, a tourist spot in the Western Ghats of Theni district on Sunday evening. According to preliminary reports, the students were climbing down the hills from Munnar in Kerala to Theni on their own. It is the forest fire season in the dry Western Ghats, especially in the Theni and Palani hills and the forest department does not allow any trekking anywhere along the ghats. "From the information we have about 40 students were climbing downhill from Munnar after parking their vehicle. It seems they were planning to trek down to Bodi town but were trapped in the forest fire," said H. Basavaraju, Principal Conservator of Forests, Tamil Nadu. "We sent a team of forty forest personnel for the rescue. The first team led by an ACF has made contact with 15 persons, 14 boys and one girl," he said adding that the other teams are on their way to rescue the remaining students. Apart from the forest personnel, fire and medical teams have also rushed to the hills for the rescue operation, he added. IAF pressed into action The Indian Air Force (IAF) had been pressed into action to rescue several students caught in a forest fire near Kurangani hills in Theni district of Tamil Nadu, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharman said. In a tweet, she also said that the Southern Command was in touch with the Theni Collector. One MI-17 helicopter was en route from Sulur to assess the situation and provide necessary assistance, sources in the Defence Ministry said, adding that the helicopter may undertake another operation on Monday morning, if needed. Fire tenders have also reached the spot. Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam is rushing to the spot to take stock of the situation. Source: The Hindu