KOCHI: Fire force officer VV Babu, who fell down in the swamp in the middle of the night during a fire-fighting mission at the Brahmapuram waste plant, returned to life only by luck.

Babu, an assistant station officer at Ernakulam Gandhinagar station, fell into the swamp around midnight on March 11th. The accident happened when Babu was trying to help the team led by the Thiruvananthapuram Regional Fire Officer, who was putting out the fire after the water pump broke down. Babu fell into the swamp while he was walking up front ahead of the seven home guards to check the way. Babu fell into the swamp while walking up front with a torch ahead of the seven home guards to check the way. As it was dark, those who came along did not know about this. Babu called out for help as he was drowning in the swamp. Although one home guard fell into the swamp while attempting to save Babu, he was able to get out of it quickly. Others soon arrived at the scene, threw a hose at Babu, and then hauled him to safety. He would have died if the rescue operation had taken even a minute longer.

Babu said that he was lucky that the muddy sewage did not enter his mouth and nose. There was no good water in Brahmapuram to clean his body. He took a jeep to the Gandhinagar station, some distance away, and cleaned himself with detergent powder. He then went to the General Hospital and sought treatment for his leg injury.