Rescuers near boy who fell into well
Rescuers were last night still inching closer to reaching a 5-year-old boy trapped for three days in a well, in an operation hampered by concerns about ground stability.
The boy, identified as Rayan, fell into a 32-metre-deep well outside his home in the village of Ighran in Morocco’s northern Chefchaouen province on Wednesday.
Search crews first used five bulldozers over days to excavate vertically to a depth of more than 31m, according to Morocco’s official MAP news agency. Yesterday, they started digging a horizontal tunnel to reach the trapped boy, MAP said, adding that experts in topographical engineering were called upon for help.
Work was temporarily halted, but resumed later.
‘‘Digging has stopped momentarily out of concern that the ground surrounding the well could collapse,’’ rescue committee member Abdelhadi Temrani told local television 2M.
Rescue workers used a rope to provide oxygen and water to the boy, but were unable to reach him via the hole where he is trapped due to its narrow diameter.
‘‘I pray and beg God that he comes out of that well alive and safe,’’ his mother, Wassima Kharchich, told 2M. ‘‘Please God, ease my pain and his, in that hole of dust.’’
Medical staff, including specialists in resuscitation, are on site to attend to the boy once he is pulled out, with a helicopter on standby to take him to hospital.
The Moroccan government had said all efforts were being made to help save the boy.
Scores of townspeople and others gathered to help and watch the rescue efforts. Moroccans took to social media to offer their hopes for the boy’s survival, using the hashtag (hash) SaveRayan.
‘‘Please God, ease my pain and his, in that hole of dust.’’ Trapped boy’s mum