A15-year old girl, Athulya, who remained trapped for 24 hours in a trench, was rescued by fire brigade personnel in Kottayam on Thursday, amidst high drama.

Athuliya accidently slipped into the trench – an abandoned well, while collecting fire wood from rubber plantation some distance away from her home on Wednesday at around 3 pm.

She remained there for 24 hours and had to spend night in the 40 ft deep claustrophobic well as it was located far away from the village. She cried aloud innumerable times to seek help but her efforts bore no fruit as there was no one to come to her rescue.

Fortunately, on Thursday a woman happened to pass through the well when she heard the moans of Athuliya. She immediately raised alarm and the villagers rushed there and informed fire brigade personnel. The fire brigade reached the site at around 3 pm on Thursday and rescued the girl.