Karwar: 75-yo survives by holding branch for 3 days after being carried away by Kali river

Karwar: An elderly man who was carried away by the Kali river amid the heavy rainfall lashing the coastal district managed to survive for three days by holding on to a tree branch.

On May 16, Venkataraya Kotharkar (75), a resident of Hanakona village in the taluk here had gone to graze his cattle near his house.

Due to the effect of Cyclone Tauktae, it was heavily raining that day and the Kali river was flowing tremendously fast. Kotharkar was carried away by the river.

When he failed to return home, his family searched him everywhere and as there was no sign of him they assumed that something bad had happened to him due to the cyclone.

Kotharkar, however, managed to save his life by grabbing a tree’s branch.

For two days, due to the heavy rains, he was unable to come out of the river.

Finally, as the cyclone effect receded he was sighted holding the tree branch and was brought out of the river by his relatives and villagers.