A heavily pregnant woman stranded by floods in Kerala gave birth just after being airlifted to safety, an Indian Navy spokesman said.
Sajita Jabeel, 25, was winched up by Commander Vijay Verma, who has been widely praised for leading the rescue in the Aluva district.
“The lady was in labour, her water had broken,” Verma told News18 television.
He called the relief mission “very challenging” and said his team had rushed to find the family after receiving an emergency call.
“We took a doctor along, we winched her up, it took some time though because we had to winch down two people to help her.”
Jabeel gave birth to a healthy baby boy after being rushed to hospital.
In another incident, a woman refused to leave her flooded house without her 25 dogs, a rescuer said yesterday.
The dogs were found cowering on beds in the flooded house with water rising when an animal welfare group arrived for a last-gasp rescue, said Sally Varma of Humane Society International.
The woman, identified as Sunitha, was found by rescuers in Thrissur, one of the districts worst hit by floods .
But she refused to leave her house unless her dogs, all strays or abandoned pets, were taken too, Varma told AFP.
“She sent back volunteers and rescue officials because they said they could not evacuate her dogs.
“She was just not willing to leave her dogs behind. She then managed to get in touch with us,” Varma added.
“When the rescue team reached her house, it was completely flooded and the dogs were huddled on beds.”
Sunitha, her husband and the dogs are now staying at a special shelter as the relief camps set up for the disaster refused animals.
Varma said she has started a fundraiser for Sunitha and her pets so a kennel could be built at her home after the floods recede.
A nurse holds a newborn boy next to the mother Sajita Jabeel in a hospital in Kochi, after she was rescued from a roof in a flood affected area of Kochi.
