Moroccan rescuers edge closer to child trapped in well

Saturday, 5 February 2022 10:51

By REUTERS

Moroccan emergency teams work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan from a well shaft he fell into on February 1, in the remote village of Ighrane in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 4, 2022.

Moroccan rescue workers on Saturday came closer to reaching a young child trapped at the bottom of a well in a delicate operation to dig out large parts of a hillside where there is a risk of landslide.

The five-year old boy, publicly identified only by his first name, Rayan, fell into the well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen on Tuesday and his plight has gripped the North African country.

"I ask Moroccans to pray for the safe return of my son," Rayan's distraught mother said in footage shown on local media. State news outlet SNRT News quoted a rescuer on Friday saying the boy was still alive.

The well is 32 metres deep and narrows as it descends from its 45cm (18 inches) diameter at the top, which means the rescuers cannot go down themselves to retrieve the child.

The hilly region around Chefchaouen is bitterly cold in winter and though food has been lowered to Rayan, it was not clear whether he has eaten any.

He has also been supplied with water and oxygen using a tube.

Rescuers worked with bulldozers to cut a massive trench into the hill next to the well, leaving a gaping hole in the reddish earth.

By Saturday morning they were digging horizontally towards the well, and installing PVC tubes to protect against landslides and get the boy out.

"This second rescue step is about to finish ... we are racing to get to Rayan and digging goes as planned," lead rescuer Abdelhadi Tamrani told state TV 2M early on Saturday.

State news outlet SNRT News quoted a rescuer on Friday as saying the boy was still alive.

A helicopter is standing by to ferry Rayan to hospital as soon as he is freed.