BHUBANESWAR: A 14-year-old boy’s attempt to collect honey in a jungle in Nayagarh district turned into a six-hour-long life-threatening ordeal on Wednesday after his head got trapped in a rock crevice.It triggered a massive rescue mission fraught with danger, as a six-foot python slithered close and swarms of wild bees hovered overhead.After nearly six hours of relentless effort that started around 12 noon, 45 personnel from the Odisha fire and emergency services managed to rescue the boy unharmed around 6 pm.Taking to ‘X’, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi commended the rescue operation.DGP (fire services) Sudhanshu Sarangi, who rushed to the spot to supervise the operation, praised the team’s efforts. “We faced danger at every step. The child’s head was stuck inside a narrow hole between rocks, and the presence of bees and a python close posed serious threats to both the boy and our firefighters,” he said. IGP Uma Shankar Dash said that a reward of Rs 25,000 would be provided to the rescue team.Officials said the boy had accompanied his uncle, Ram Pradhan, to Chokakhola hilltop in Kanipada forest to collect honey. In a bid to reach a honeycomb deep inside a rock crevice, he crawled in head first and got trapped. His uncle raised an alarm and alerted locals as well as the fire brigade for help.The rescue site, located around 3 km from the village and nearly 250 feet above ground level, required advanced equipment, including pneumatic lifting bags, rock cutters and hydraulic jacks, brought in from Bhubaneswar. Fire service teams from Odagaon, Nayagarh and Bhubaneswar coordinated the operation before finally rescuing the child.The dramatic rescue drew large crowds to the hilltop, with anxious villagers and family members praying for the boy’s safety throughout the tense operation. The boy was immediately taken to the Odagaon community health centre, where his condition is stable.
