9-hour search, no sign of missing baby

Bangalore: Sitting dazed in her tiny hut in south Bangalore, Lakshmi holds her older child close as she receives the news that her baby is unlikely to come home again. In a small voice, she says, "He went to play in the morning. He fell into the drain at 7:30 this morning. He is one and a half years old."

For 9 hours, more than a 100 firemen searched an uncovered 3.5 kilometre drain for any sign of Vijay. They followed the storm drain from the point the child fell in to Madiwala Lake, the lake into which the drain empties. Heavy rain forced the water in the drain to flow quickly, indicating the sort of current a little baby would be up against.

The drain has been manually sifted. On Thursday morning, the search operation will continue with boats, but the leader of the rescue mission says he has given up hope. "There's no chance of finding the body," comments B K Hamppagl, Deputy Director, Fire Services.

Earlier this monsoon season, a young boy Abhishek slipped into an open drain in Bangalore, while walking with his mother at night. His body was never recovered.