For the second day in a row, rescue teams from northern Morocco are working around the clock, digging frantically, to rescue a 5-year-old boy trapped in a 105-foot-deep (32-meter) well, authorities said Thursday.
The boy, named Rayan, has been trapped in the well, located in the northern town of Ighran, in the Moroccan province of Chefchaouen,
since Tuesday night.
Rescuers said Thursday that they have managed to lower oxygen and water, and that they have obtained a response from the little boy.
"I pray and pray to God that he gets out of that well alive and safe
," his mother, Wassima Kharchich, told local 2M television.
"Please, God, ease my pain and yours, in that hole of dust," she implored.
[An immigrant falls into a well at the border and is trapped for hours feeling threatened by a snake]
The boy's father, Khalid Agoram, explained to a local station that he was looking for his son for hours on Tuesday before discovering that he had fallen into the well.
He assured that it was covered with a barrel, but that the boy must have moved it from its place before falling inside.
He and his wife told several local media that when they suspected that their son was inside the well , they
introduced a cell phone with the camera
on, suspended by a rope,
with which they verified that he was at the bottom.
Local authorities dig into a hill as they try to rescue Rayan, a 5-year-old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred, near Chefchaouen, Morocco, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022.AP
“It's my well, I was repairing it and Rayan was by my side. At one point, he fell and I didn't realize it
," Agoram told Le360 on Wednesday.
“We alerted the authorities and all the neighbors have come to support us.
Everyone has done their best for him to come out alive and for me to be able to hold him in my arms tonight.
But I do not hide from you that both his mother and I are devastated and very nervous, ”he continued.
[Bodies of Two Americans Found in a Well in Mexico]
Several volunteers tried to access the bottom by holding a rope, but
the well is so narrow
(less than a foot, between 30 and 50 centimeters) that they got stuck in the way.
Also, the rescue teams used a rope to supply a tube of oxygen and water to the boy, but they could not reach the bottom.
They also sent a CCTV camera to monitor him, according to the official Moroccan news agency MAP.
“I was able to communicate with the boy and asked him if he could hear me. There was an answer. I waited a minute and saw that he was starting to use oxygen
,” Red Crescent volunteer Imad Fahmy told 2M.
2 will be his lucky number: he was born at 2:22 on February 2, 2022 and is the 22nd great-grandson of the family
Feb. 4, 202200:31
Additionally,
rescuers used five bulldozers to dig a hole parallel to the well
.
The idea is to dig another perpendicular tunnel to access the cavity where Rayan is.
Local officials said
rescuers have so far reached 62 feet
(19 meters) deep.
Medical personnel are on the scene to treat the minor, and a helicopter is on standby to transport him to the nearest hospital.
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Government spokesman Mustapha Baytas said on Thursday that the administration is closely monitoring the situation, studying different ways to save the little boy.
Thousands of Moroccans took to social media to express their solidarity with the boy and his family.
The hashtag #SaveRayan has been trending for hours in Morocco and posts on Twitter have drawn global attention to the rescue efforts.
With information from AP, Efe and
El País.
