A saree became an unlikely lifeline for 21 Tamil Nadu pilgrims caught in Nepal’s deadly flash floods while returning from the Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage.
According to BBC and PTI reports, the pilgrims fled their vehicle after their Nepalese driver spotted floodwaters, mud and boulders hurtling towards them and urged them to climb to higher ground.
Several women struggled to scale the slippery, muddy embankment. Pilgrims who had reached the top then lowered a saree as an improvised rope, helping pull them to safety one by one.
Survivor Sivaranjani said Mr Ratnakumar and his wife Poonguzhali, from Mayiladuthurai - a district headquarters in Tamil Nadu, helped rescue stranded women, with Mr Ratnakumar even venturing into the danger zone.
The group later trekked for about three hours along a hazardous mountain trail before being evacuated by helicopter.
