Kottayam: A man who jumped into a river from a bridge here was swept away by the current for about 1.5 km before being rescued by alert local people using a canoe. Kishore, a 53-year-old man hailing from Nellimattom in Ernakulam, had leapt into a distributary of the Meenachil River from the Neelimangalam Bridge on M C Road around noon on Sunday.

Jithu and Midhun, two youths living nearby, noticed a man caught in the current and raised an alarm. Soon, other people also rushed to the river banks.

Branches of trees on the river banks which were leaning into the water often blocked Kishore. As he could swim, Kishore untangled himself from the branches and continued swimming along the middle of the river. However, as the current was very strong, Kishore could not swim for long and began drowning.

When he reached the ‘Arattu Kadavu’ (festival ghat) of the Kumaranalloor Devi Temple, two youths – Gautham and M S Siraj – who were present on the river bank took a canoe to where Kishore was floating and rescued him.

After administering first aid, Kishore was rushed to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital. It is yet to be ascertained why he jumped into the river.