KOCHI: A nine-month-old baby girl with a broken hand and a 70-year-old lady with a hip bone fracture were airlifted from the Kiltan Island in Lakshadweep by the Navy to Kochi on Saturday and were admitted to a hospital here. A third patient from the Minicoy island with heart problem died due to heart attack before he could be airlifted by the Navy.
The Navy received the request from Lakshadweep and Minicoy Administration for airlifting on the evening of Thursday. Accordingly, an Advanced Light Helicopter was launched at first light on Friday from INAS (Indian Naval Air Station) Garuda, Kochi.
The helicopter braved rough and squally weather en route to Kiltan and evacuated both the patients along with the baby girl's parents to Agatti. Meanwhile, a Navy Dornier aircraft was positioned at Agatti. The patients and attendants were transferred to the Dornier and flown to Kochi.
The helicopter was flown by Lieutenant Colonel Y.K. Ajit Singh, Lieutenant Commander S.S. Dash and R.K. Sharma POACM (D). The Dornier aircraft was flown by Commander V.V. Mani and Lieutenant R.C. Vishnu. A Lakhadweep administration official in Kochi said Muhammed (68) of Minicoy died as he was redirected from the helipad to a nearby hospital following the heart attack.
A Lakshadweep native said that two Pawan Hans helicopters in the custody of the Lakshadweep administration are currently dysfunctional and hence are not being of any use. “They were provided for ambulatory purpose,” he pointed out and added that the two airlifted persons were unwell for the past four days.
