Bhuj, February 2: Three employees of a private company were rescued nearly 16 hours after they were stranded on a tidal channel of Harami Nala near the India-Pakistan border in Gujarat's Kutch district, police said on Sunday.

The men had set out for a survey of land belonging to the Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited (GHCL) in the eastern part of the Harami Nala Creek area using a dredging machine on Friday, but were stranded and unable to return, said Vikas Sunda, Superintendent of Police, Kutch West.

He said a joint rescue operation with the Border Security Force (BSF) was launched as soon as GHCL officials contacted the police on Saturday morning.

"The local police and BSF located the trio based on their last contact coordinates before launching a search and rescue mission," Sunda told reporters. Gujarat Road Accident: 5 Killed, 35 Injured As Private Bus Carrying Pilgrims Falls Into Deep Gorge in Dang District (Watch Videos).

GHCL Employees Out on Survey Gets Stranded in Creek Near Indo-Pak Border

He said the BSF teams arrived for the rescue operation, but the conditions were hostile and the terrain inhospitable, so they used a drone camera to locate the trio's exact position and ensure they were safe. "The three men were standing on the dredging machine that had almost sunk in the water. Once we were assured of their safety, the Indian Army and Air Force were contacted, and an IAF chopper was also readied. Meanwhile, the BSF entered the area on a boat and rescued them safely. The men were stranded for nearly 16 hours," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)