Moroccan rescuers have started the last, very delicate and risky phase of drilling to try to extract Rayan, a five-year-old child who fell four days ago into a deep well. His fate has moved the whole country and thousands of supporters have gone to the place in a sign of solidarity, as evidenced by the endless row of cars parked near the village.
The tension remained palpable all day. The boy accidentally fell on Tuesday afternoon into the dry, narrow and difficult to access well dug near the family residence in the village of Ighrane, near Bab Berred, in the province of Chefchaouen, in the north of the kingdom. . “Rayan was playing next door but he disappeared [mardi] around 2 p.m. The whole family rallied to look for him until we learned that he had fallen into the well.”told the local press the mother of the child, her eyes filled with tears. “I still hold out hope that they will bring my son back alive.”
Rescuers brought oxygen and water to the bottom of the cramped well, suggesting Rayan is still alive, according to local media. But the rescue operation is a real headache. Thus, several successive scenarios were studied to save the child. At first, the rescue teams tried to descend directly into the well, an operation aborted because its diameter does not exceed 45 centimeters. They then thought of widening the diameter of the well, an operation impossible because of the risk of a landslide. So there is only one solution left: dig around the well.
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The rescue operation has entered a decisive phase, local authorities said, with the start of the drilling of a three-meter horizontal tunnel to reach the child. Mechanical machines had previously cleared the ground around the 32-meter-deep well. At the same time, an operation to stabilize the surrounding terrain was carried out, allowing the tunnel to be dug and securing access for rescuers. These very slow operations are complex because of the risk of landslide due to the nature of the soil, some layers being sandy and others rocky.
A landslide, precisely, took place on the spot because of the presence of onlookers, according to a correspondent of franceinfo, and the authorities evacuated the whole mountain for safety. After the evacuation of the curious, the diggers returned to the site to resume the clearing and try to find the little boy. Rescuers crawl towards Rayan sheltered by concrete pipes. A team is ready to rescue the child from the horizontal breach, local authorities said. A medical helicopter is ready to take care of him.