Spanish boy found dead after 13-day search
MADRID — Rescue crews early Saturday found the body of a 2-year-old boy, whose fall into a deep borehole 13 days earlier prompted a heart-wrenching search and rescue operation that had Spaniards holding their breath.
Julen Rosello fell down the narrow 360-foot-deep borehole Jan. 13 while his family was preparing a countryside Sunday lunch. Adding to the family’s tragedy, Spanish media had reported that his parents had a 3-year-old son who died of a heart attack during a walk on the beach in 2017.
Julen’s remains were found in the early hours of Saturday by rescuers digging a tunnel to reach him, said Alfonso Rodriguez, the Spanish government’s representative for the southern region of Andalusia. They were accompanied by a member of the Civil Guard, which then took charge of removing the body.
Rodriguez said that the results of the boy’s autopsy would remain secret under a judicial commission following up with the accident’s investigation. The Civil Guard was investigating if the borehole had been made illegally.
The tragedy had gripped Spaniards, and the country had followed closely every turn of the complex operation, frequently hampered by layers of hard rock.
Spain’s King Felipe VI and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered their condolences to the family.
“All of Spain shares in the infinite sadness of Julen’s family,” Sanchez wrote on Twitter. “We have followed each step taken to reach him. We will always be grateful for the tireless effort of those who worked to find him during these days.”
The dry waterhole, only 10 inches in diameter, was too narrow for an adult to get into and hardened soil and rock blocked equipment from getting to the place two-thirds of the way down where the toddler was trapped.