Newborn, rescued from borewell in Odisha, now stable: Doctors

Sambalpur: The health condition of the newborn girl, who was rescued from an abandoned borewell in Odisha’s Sambalpur district on Tuesday evening, is stable and out of danger, doctors said.

The girl is currently undergoing treatment at the special newborn care unit (SNCU) of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla. A five-member team of doctors headed by Subhas Chandra Majhi is monitoring her health.

VIMSAR superintendent Lalmohan Nayak on Thursday said the newborn was brought to the SNCU around 11.30pm on Tuesday in a critical condition, suffering from hypothermia (A condition when body loses heat faster than it can produce heat, causing a dangerously low body temperature).

"Her body temperature was low due to exposure to cold in the borewell. She was kept in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) following which her condition improved. She will be kept under observation for another 48 hours," he said.

The doctor said the newborn weighs 1.6 kg and appears to be one-day-old when she was rescued.

Meanwhile, police on Wednesday registered a case under Section 307 of IPC (attempt to murder) and other sections of the IPC in the Rengali police station in connection with the incident.

"Police will investigate all possible angles to find out how the incident took place and the person responsible for it," said additional superintendent of police (ASP), Sambalpur, HC Pandey.

The baby was rescued from inside the borewell at 9.40pm on Tuesday. Villagers had first heard her cries from inside the borewell and informed the authorities. Immediately, police, fire brigade and health officials rushed to the spot to rescue her.

The infant was lodged inside the borewell on a plastic bottle, which shielded her from broken glass within, said DG, fire services, Sudhansu Sarangi.

The rescue team, which included fire officials and a unit of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, immediately supplied oxygen to the baby. During the rescue operation, a 100-watt electric bulb was also lowered inside the borewell to keep the baby warm due to the low night time temperature.

Sarangi said, "Information about the newborn was received by Rengali fire station at 2.30pm on Tuesday. Subsequently, our fire officials arrived at the spot at Laripali, approximately 10km from the fire station, and assessed the situation. The team's priority was to provide oxygen to the newborn. Subsequently, on our request, medical officials from Rengali CHC reached the spot with oxygen cylinders and pipe."

He informed that three excavators were roped in to rescue the child. While one excavator was engaged in digging, the other two excavators removed the soil. Manual digging was also carried out to gain access to the pipe of the borewell, he said.

The child was trapped 13-feet deep in the borewell. During the operation, the iron pipe of the borewell emerged as the challenge for the rescue team. Though the iron pipe kept the newborn safe, it was a difficult task for the team to retrieve the baby by cutting the pipe.

The team also needed a victim location camera which was sent to the spot by a special plane from Bhubaneswar. Finally, after a five-hour operation, the newborn was rescued.