Fire service rescues pregnant woman amid chest-deep floodwaters in Chattogram

Fire service personnel carried a pregnant woman on a stretcher through chest-deep floodwaters to get her to a hospital after she became stranded due to heavy rains and rising floods.

The rescue took place in Khoiyarkul village, located on the banks of the Dolu River under Paschim Amirabad Union of Lohagara upazila in Chattogram in the early hours of Thursday (July 9). The village had been completely submerged by continuous downpours and mountain torrents. The rescued woman was identified as Mizbahul Jannat, 22, wife of Saudi expatriate Riyaz Uddin.

According to family members, Mizbahul Jannat went into labor around 2am on Wednesday night. Although the Lohagara Upazila Health Complex is only about two kilometers away from her home, the severe flooding on the roads made it impossible to transport her. After waiting anxiously for several hours, the family contacted the fire service at dawn.

Upon receiving the call, a rescue team from the Lohagara Fire Service and Civil Defense rushed to the spot. The rescue workers waded through chest-deep water and carried her on their shoulders using a stretcher to a safe location. She was then transferred to a pre-arranged ambulance and sent to the hospital, where she later gave birth to a baby boy. Currently, both the mother and the newborn are in good health.

Rakhal Chandra Rudra, station leader of the Lohagara Fire Service and Civil Defense, said that their team swiftly responded to the call and successfully executed the rescue operation. He noted that although her house was only about 600 meters from the station, the entire route was submerged under chest-deep water, necessitating the use of a stretcher to carry her safely to the waiting ambulance.

Continuous heavy rain and flash floods have led to a deteriorating flood situation across various upazilas in Chattogram, including Satkania and Lohagara, leaving thousands of families marooned and submerging key infrastructure such as police stations, hospitals, and schools.