Indian sailor goes missing in a bid to save mother and child

A sailor of the Indian Navy on Friday went missing in the waters while trying to rescue a woman who had jumped into the Ernakulam Channel here from a bridge with her six-month-old child.

While the woman is under treatment in hospital, the child was declared dead on arrival, a Defence press release said. The 24-year-old sailor, Vishnu Unni of INS Sharda, saw the woman and child falling into the water while he was passing by the Vikrant Venduruthy Bridge.

Braving strong currents and in total disregard of his personal safety, he successfully put both the woman and the child into a boat of the Cochin Shipyard limited (CSL) which had reached the spot by then.

The sailor, however, was yet to be traced and search and rescue operations by Naval team and Fast Interceptor craft are in progress, the release said.

The sailor is a native of Palakkad in Kerala.

The woman and child were taken to a private hospital, where the child was declared dead on arrival, it said.