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Rescue workers at a well in Chhattisgarh state
Photo: AFP
In India, rescue workers rescued a ten-year-old boy from a narrow well after four days.
The deaf Rahul Sahu was "safely rescued thanks to everyone's prayers and the tireless efforts of the rescue team," Chhattisgarh state premier wrote on Twitter.
The boy fell into the 24 meter deep well in the courtyard of his parents' house on Friday.
Jeetendra Shukla, head of the local district administration, told journalists the boy was "alive but weak" and taken to a nearby hospital.
A snake was seen in the well, but the boy "showed exemplary courage" and remained calm, he added.
With the support of the military, civil protection had dug a tunnel next to the well shaft for the rescue.
Bad weather, venomous snakes and scorpions, which had been flushed out during the excavation, had hampered rescue efforts.
Hard rock underground also slowed down tunnel construction, a government spokesman said.
Boy was provided with fresh air
The boy was monitored via a camera lowered into the well shaft and given fresh air via an oxygen line.
The fact that he could neither speak nor hear made the rescue operation even more difficult.
Uncovered wells are common in rural Indian villages.
Again and again children die who fall into such wells.
In 2019, a two-year-old child was found dead after a four-day rescue operation from a well in northern Punjab state.
In the same year, a 1.5-year-old child was rescued in neighboring Haryana State after being stuck in a well for two days.
Rahul's case is also reminiscent of the fate of two-year-old Julen in Spain in 2019: the boy fell 100 meters deep into a borehole with a diameter of only 25 centimeters.
Julen could only be recovered dead after 13 days.
bam/dpa