Race against time to save terrified Afghan boy, nine, trapped for two days in 33ft-deep well
Race against time to save terrified Afghan boy, nine, trapped 33ft-down a well – weeks after similar attempt to rescue little Rayan, five, ended in tragedy in Morocco
Nine-year-old boy, named as Haidar, has been trapped inside a well for two daysRescuers are using differs to dig down in an attempt to reach boy in southern AfghanistanThe operation comes two weeks after a similar attempt to rescue five-year-old Rayan Awram from a Moroccan well ended with the boy found dead
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Rescuers are racing against time to save a terrified nine-year-old Afghan boy who has been trapped 33ft-down a well for two days.
The boy, named locally as Haidar, is wedged inside the well and rescuers were seen digging down in an attempt to reach the boy in Shokok village, Zabul province, southern Afghanistan.
The operation comes just two weeks after a similar attempt to rescue five-year-old Rayan Awram from a Moroccan well ended in tragedy, with the little boy found dead after being trapped more than 100ft underground for four days.
Video shared on social media – including by officials of Afghanistan’s new Taliban government – showed Haidar wedged in the well, able to move his arms and upper body. The little boy could be heard crying in the footage.
The boy, named locally as Haidar, is wedged inside the well and rescuers were seen digging down in an attempt to reach the boy in Shokok village, Zabul province, southern Afghanistan
Rescuers were seen digging down in an attempt to reach the boy in Shokok village, Zabul province, southern Afghanistan
‘Are you okay my son?’ his father can be heard saying in the video. ‘Talk with me and don’t cry, we are working to get you out.’
‘Okay, I’ll keep talking,’ the boy replies in a plaintive voice.
The video was obtained by rescuers lowering a camera down the narrow well by rope.
Local officials said the boy appeared trapped about 33ft down the 82ft shaft.
‘A team is there with an ambulance, oxygen and other necessary things,’ tweeted Abdullah Azzam, secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Abdulghani Barada.
Rescuers were digging an open slit trench from an angle at the surface to try to reach the point where the boy is trapped.
Rescuers were digging an open slit trench from an angle at the surface to try to reach the point where the boy is trapped
Local officials said the boy appeared trapped about 33ft down the 82ft shaft. Pictured: A digger at the site of the well as rescuers try to save the nine-year-old boy
It appeared to be similar engineering to what rescuers attempted in Morocco in early February, when Rayan fell into a 105ft (32-metre) well outside his home in Ighran village, in the northern province of Chefchaouen.
After digging vertically and then horizontally – all while risking a landslide – rescuers and resuscitation experts finally reached the boy after four days, offering a faint glimmer of optimism that he might have survived the ordeal.
But the anxious wait for news of five-year-old Rayan ended in tragedy for his family, after government officials confirmed the young boy could not be resuscitated, adding that he had died before rescuers could reach him.
The boy’s body was seen wrapped in a gold blanket after he emerged from a tunnel dug specifically for the rescue operation.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI sent his condolences to the Awram family and praised both the rescue crews and local community for their valiant efforts over the past week. Supportive messages were also shared online as the hashtag #SaveRayan trended on Twitter.
Tragic: Little Rayan Awram, aged five, was found dead in early February following a four-day rescue mission to save him after he fell down a well
Dozens nervously watch as Rayan is transferred from the rescue site to an ambulance
