UP’s ‘flying man’ survives 50ft storm lift, lands in field

BAREILLY: A 50-year-old e-rickshaw driver was lifted nearly 50ft into the air and flung around 100 metres by strong storm winds after he tried to hold down a tin shed at a wedding hall in Bamiana village under Bhaumora police station area on Wednesday evening. ^{He landed in a nearby sugarcane field with fractures in his hand and leg, while a video of the incident turned him into an internet sensation overnight. Mohd Nanhe, a resident of Bamiana village, about 22km from Bareilly city, had gone to the wedding hall to collect some goods when the weather suddenly worsened. He said strong winds began uprooting the tin shed, and fearing that it would be carried away, he tied a rope to it and held on in an attempt to stop it from flying off. The gusts, however, proved too strong, and the shed broke loose, lifting him with it. Nanhe remained airborne for about seven seconds before the wind carried him across the area and dropped him in the adjoining sugarcane field. He briefly lost consciousness after the impact, but later said the crop softened his fall and saved him from more serious injuries. “When I was in the air, I thought I would never see my children again,” he said. Within hours, the clip travelled far beyond Bamiana village, appearing on news channels and circulating across X, Instagram, WhatsApp groups and LinkedIn timelines. Viewers replayed the few seconds in which Nanhe rose with the tin shed, crossed the frame in the storm and disappeared towards the fields, many calling his survival difficult to believe. For villagers, the video captured both the force of the storm and the narrowness of Nanhe’s escape. What began as an attempt to save a tin shed became a scene watched across social media, with users marvelling that he survived a fall from such a height with fractures rather than fatal injuries. The video was recorded by Rajan Ansari, 16, a resident of the same village, who was filming the storm from his rooftop when he saw Nanhe being lifted. “I was recording the storm when I suddenly saw him go up with the shed,” Ansari said. He later shared the clip on social media, where users began calling Nanhe the “Bareilly flying man”. Nanhe was taken to a private hospital and discharged later that night after his condition stabilised. His family said he was readmitted the following afternoon after his health deteriorated again.Nanhe lives with his wife Anjum Begum, two daughters and three sons, and earns his livelihood by driving an e-rickshaw.}