Watch: 14-year-old boy survives Andhra floods by hanging on to tree for 8 hours

Guntur: His grit and determination to not leave the grip of the trunk of a tree for eight hours saved his life while three of his family members were washed away in floods in Andhra Pradesh.

It was not the administration but the villagers who showed the will to rescue the 14-year-old boy from the danger of the flood. Heavy rains in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh saw flash floods which played havoc in the region. A 14-year-old boy Venkateshwarulu was in shock when he saw water flooding everywhere and his family comprising father Ch. Kondalu (35), mother Subbulu (25) and sister Vanaja (10) were hit by flooding when water started to rise at the Ganganapalem lift irrigation site. They were washed away but only Venkateshwarulu managed to hold on to a palm tree. When some people of Ameen sahib palem village saw him, they immediately informed the administration for help. But rescuers couldn’t do much. Even police and NDRF tried but in vain as flood waters were flowing heavily. The local villagers and Venkateshwarlu’s uncle Ch. Polaiah stood at the side motivating the boy not to leave the tree. He was seen climbing the tree when the water level was rising. District administration sent a helicopter but it couldn’t do much to save the boy. When in the late evening of Thursday, the water receded, the villagers, with the help of rope, got into the water and reached the palm tree and eventually rescued him. More than 100 people gather at the site when the local level rescue operation was on. After being rescued Venkateshwarlu said that only villagers’ support gave him strength to hold on to the tree as he thought he will die soon. He wished his family could have been rescued. However, he thanked the entire village for saving him.