5 kids get lost in Mumbra hill, rescued by NDRF, TDRF team

THANE: Five young children, between the ages of 9-12 years, had a narrow escape after they climbed up to 300 ft of a hill near the Mumbra Bypass, but could not find their way down after they lost their sense of direction, as darkness descended with the night setting in. Alone, frightened, and not knowing what to do, they started crying as children of their age would do as a natural response to distress. Luckily for them, some people who were descending the Mumbra hill at that time heard their cries and alerted the Thane Disaster Response Force (TDRF).

The children, Asahdul Sheikh, 12, Mohammad Sheikh, 11, Eshaan Sheikh,10, Munna Aman Sheikh, 9, and Aamir Babu Sheikh, 11, were led up the hill by a man whose identity is yet to be known, purportedly to collect crabs. This man approached the children as they were playing near their homes in Mumbra and asked them if they wanted crabs for dinner. When they said “yes”, he asked them to follow him. Interestingly, he was not known to the children when they decided to follow him and, hence, police are yet to ascertain his identity, as other than some physical description, the kids have not been able to give any other information about the ‘stranger’.

The children have revealed to the police that while they were busy scouting for and collecting the crabs, the man went down, leaving them on their own. They tried to get down on their own following the instructions he had given earlier about the path to follow. However, they ended up on a narrow and precarious stretch in the hill at a height of about 200 feet. As, by this time, it was pitch dark, they were scared to move from the spot fearing they would fall.

It was then that they started crying and calling for help, and a few people still on the hill heard them and called the TDRF. Yasin Tadavi, chief of TDRF, said, “Our team could reach to about 25 ft away from where the children were stuck, as we were unable to find a safe approach. So, we returned and waited for the NDRF team to arrive. We then climbed together using rappelling and other climbing techniques, and were finally able to reach the spot at around 3am on Saturday. After securing the children with ropes, we brought them down safely. They were extremely scared and hungry, having been without food since 4 pm.”

He also said that the children come from economically disadvantaged familes of Mumbra, and do not go to school. The children were later handed over to their parents under the supervision of Mumbra police officers. P Sheikh, one of the parents, said, “I wasn’t aware of this until 9 pm as I was out for work. Till then, I was under the impression that my kids were playing with their friends outside. When we realised they weren’t anywhere near the house, we were worried and went to the police station. We are thankful to the authorities for safely rescuing them.”

Fortunately, none of the children suffered any injuries during the time they were stuck on the hill and during the tough night rescue. Besides TDRF and NDRF, local police, Mumbra Fire Brigade, and a team of mountaineers led by Yogesh Sadre also took part in the rescue operation.