Morocco: Rescuers rush to save 5-year-old boy trapped in a well for three days

Hundreds of thousands of Moroccans on Friday took to their social media accounts to share images, messages of “love and courage” and pray for the safe evacuation of a 5-year-old Moroccan boy named Rayan, who fell into the 100 feet deep well. Rescue efforts remain underway to pull out the child who had been stuck at the bottom of the well for the third straight day without food and water. 

Moroccans, postponing every other work and their daily errands have been instead glued to the LIVE broadcasts of the rescue operation, waiting for the child to be rescued soon. Many have travelled to the site to witness the operation in person. In the footage circulating, the Moroccan civil defense workers were seen racing against the clock digging the mud with trawlers under the floodlights in the 32-meter well trying to make a hole next to a narrow shaft to reach the young boy. 

Residents watch in concern as civil defense and local authorities dig in a hill as they attempt to rescue a 5-year-old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen, Morocco. [Credit: AP]

Rescuers provide oxygen, water to the fallen boy via rope

Rayan fell into the well on Tuesday night, and as of Friday the rescuers have been able to provide him with oxygen and water via a long rope but have been unable to bring the child to the surface yet. North African nation launched a hashtag #SaveRayan that trend on Twitter for hours on Feb. 4. Speaking with the state-owned television station, the boy’s mother said that the child was playing nearby and suddenly disappeared for a few moments. It was then she had heard him crying, and soon discovered what had happened. Her son had fallen into the well, she said, according to broadcaster CNN. Khalid Agoram, the boy’s father told another local broadcaster that he had been looking for his son for hours and had later discovered that he had fallen into the well.

“I pray and beg God that he comes out of that well alive and safe,” the stranded boy’s mother Wassima Kharchich told local television 2M. “Please God, ease my pain and his, in that hole of dust.”

Civil defense workers and local authorities attempt to rescue a 5-year-old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen, Morocco. [Credit: AP]

A woman reacts as civil defense workers and local authorities attempt to rescue a 5 year old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred. [Credit: AP]

The family quickly contacted the authorities without wasting time, and the rescue operation started. Since then, the workers have been using machines to dig a parallel path. A helicopter is on the scene to transport the boy to the hospital. Medical professionals who specialise in resuscitation are also on standby. CCTV camera was lowered into the well to monitor him, Morocco’s official MAP news agency reported. The drilling progress was temporarily halted as of late Friday evening as the operation reached its "final stages” and at least two rescuers, who were reportedly just inches away from the boy, started manually digging. 

Residents watch civil defense workers and local authorities attempting to rescue a 5-year-old boy. [Credit: AP]

A civil defense worker attempts to rescue a 5 year old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen.[Credit: AP]

"This stage is the most important and most complicated one," a rescuer told The Times UK reporters. There’s a "chance of collapse" and so the team was being cautious in their efforts. "Everyone is doing their best so that he comes out alive and that we can take him in our arms by the end of the day," Rayan's father said during an interview with Le360. “I managed to communicate with the child and asked if he could hear me. There was a response. I waited for a minute and saw that he began using the oxygen,” Red Crescent volunteer Imad Fahmy told 2M. Government spokesperson Mustapha Baytas told the local press that the government is closely monitoring the situation, studying different ways to help save the child and that he would be out soon.