Security personnel on Saturday safely rescued five people who were trapped in the middle of Bagmati River in Rajadevi Municipality-3, Rautahat, after eight hours.

Four villagers from Chandiya in Rautahat and a man from the neighbouring Sarlahi district were trapped on the island since Friday evening due to floods in the Bagmati river.

The villagers went to the area to inspect their paddy fields but could not return amid the significant rise of the water level in the Bagmati river.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Uma Shankar Prasad Yadav, Ramapati Devi, 50, Lalita Devi Patel, 37, Bilas Das, 60, Karan Shila Sah, 50, of Chandiya and Kesar Sahan of Balara in Sarlahi, were safely rescued. Security personnel from Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force were mobilised for the rescue efforts soon after the police were informed about the incident on Friday evening.

“The rescue was not possible at night. The villagers were rescued on Saturday morning,” said Yadav.

The water level has increased in the Bagmati river as it rained heavily in its catchment areas for the past few hours.

“We stayed on the island and saved our lives,” said Das, who had two buffaloes with him. “The floods could sweep us away. The security personnel timely rescued us.”