Moroccan rescuers in final stages to free 5-year-old boy trapped in well

LONDON: Rescuers on Saturday dug to within a meter of a young boy trapped for five days in a well in northern Morocco, a delicate and dangerous operation constantly delayed by rocks and imperilled by the threat of landslides.
Workers with mechanical diggers have been trying round the clock to rescue the 5-year-old child, Rayan Awram, after he fell into a 32-meter (100-foot) deep well in the hills near Chefchaouen on Tuesday.
“We hope we will not encounter rocks,” lead rescuer Abdelhadi Tamrani told reporters at the site on Saturday afternoon, while there were still several meters left to dig.

Rescuers stand near the hole of a well into which a five-year-old boy fell in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)

A local official said there were no new development on Rayan’s health condition, but that the second phase of the rescue operation was in full swing and the rescue operation was nearing its end, Al Arabiya reported.
State television later reported that the rescuers were 90 cm (35 inches) from Rayan and that they had pinpointed his location from the access tunnel they were digging from a trench cut into the hillside.
A medical team was with the rescuers, who still hope to find young Rayan alive. It was not immediately clear how long it would take for them to exit the tunnel.
Tamrani said it was difficult to determine the child’s health condition because a camera that has been dropped down the well showed him lying on his side, but he added “we hope we will rescue him alive.”
The more time that passes, the more fears arise over Rayan’s condition.
Rescuers had tried to get oxygen and water down to the child but it was not clear whether he was able to use the vital supplies, AFP reporters said.
The Red Crescent also confirmed that it has been providing oxygen continuously to the little boy since Tuesday evening.

A view shows a well into which a five-year-old boy fell in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)

Rescue crews, using bulldozers and front-end loaders, excavated the surrounding red earth down to the level where the boy is trapped and are now digging horizontally toward him, by hand.
They face a risk of landslides, and on Saturday had to maneuver around a large rock which blocked their way.
Earlier in the darkness, crews had moved a heavy pipe into position in the area. One rescuer lugged what appeared to be a jackhammer.
A glacial cold has gripped this mountainous and impoverished region of the Rif, which is at an elevation of about 700 meters (2,300 feet).
Thousands of people have gathered and even camped in solidarity around the site in recent days and onlookers applauded to encourage the rescuers, sang religious songs or prayed, chanting in unison “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest).

People gather as rescuers work to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)

“We are showing solidarity with this child, who is dear to Morocco and the whole world,” said onlooker Hafid El-Azzouz, who lives in the region.
“We hope that, with God’s will, he will get out,” he said.
The shaft, just 45 centimeters (18 inches) across, was too narrow to reach Rayan, and widening it was deemed too risky — so earth-movers dug a wide slope into the hill to reach him from the side.
The operation has made the landscape resemble a construction site. It involves engineers and topographers, and was made more complex by the mix of rocky and sandy soils.
“I keep up hope that my child will get out of the well alive,” Rayan’s father told public television 2M on Friday evening. “I thank everyone involved and those supporting us in Morocco and elsewhere.”
He said earlier in the week that he had been repairing the well when the boy fell in.
The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the trending Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan.
“Millions of people across the world are holding their breath in the race against time to save Rayan,” one Twitter user wrote.
Another paid tribute to rescue workers working around the clock for days, saying, “they are real-life heroes.”
A male relative of the boy told Reuters TV that the family had first realized he was missing when they heard muffled crying and lowered a phone with its light and camera on to locate him.
“He was crying ‘lift me up’,” the relative said.
(With Reuters and AFP)