MOROCCO. For four days, Rayan, a 5-year-old child, has been stuck in a 32-meter deep hole in a village north of Chefchaouen. Only a few meters from the child, the rescuers dig a tunnel to reach the well.
[Mis à jour le 4 février 2022, à 14h49] Only a few meters separate the rescuers from Rayan, 5 years old and trapped in a well in a village near Bab Berred, in the province of Chefchaouen, Morocco. The child has been stuck in a cramped hole 32 meters deep since Tuesday February 1. The diggers have been digging a cavity a few steps from the well for several hours to reach the boy. The rescuers would have finally reached the bottom of the well, this Friday, February 4, but they still have to create a breach to allow the child to extricate himself. Large pipes will be used to form the tunnel avoiding the risk of landslides. The soil, very loose, is a mixture of rocks and sand. The task of the rescuers promises to be delicate and could take several more hours.
Although organized very quickly, the rescue operation is complicated by the nature of the ground which delays Rayan’s exit. The priority was then to be able to deliver water and oxygen to the little boy trapped underground, the rescuers lowered tubes connected to an oxygen bottle for one and a source of water for the other. other. Yesterday, a volunteer, Imad Fahmy, went a few meters deep to obtain signs of life from Rayan. “I managed to speak with the child. I asked him if he could hear me and there was a response. I waited for a minute and saw that he was starting to use the oxygen,” he told reporters on the spot.
The rescue operation progresses
The well the child is trapped in measures barely 45 centimeters in diameter, but it is impossible to enlarge the opening of the well without putting Rayan’s life in danger. The topographers have reported too great a risk of landslides because of the nature of the soil, composed of sandy layers and superimposed rock layers. On social networks, many rescue witnesses have broadcast videos of landslides near the well. The only solution to save the little boy is to dig a few meters from the well, then reach the child through a tunnel. A dozen rescuers are mobilized and diggers have been made available to speed up the rescue of Rayan. The rescuers have already dug up to a depth of thirty meters and soon arrive at the level of the child.
The most delicate stage of the rescue is yet to come. The rescuers aim to connect their position to that of Rayan by creating a tunnel of a few meters. They have been working since the beginning of the operation on the preparations to dig a horizontal breach to the bottom of the shaft. They intend to insert imposing pipes underground and dig inside by hand to form a passage without the ground being weakened and collapsing on the child. The maneuver is likely to take several hours but there seems to be hope of bringing Rayan to the surface during the day. All eyes are on the rescuers.
A mobilized medical team
Despite the few signs of life of the child, which date back to Thursday, it is impossible to assess the boy’s state of health. Medical teams have already been dispatched to the scene to intervene as quickly as possible and “carry out the initial examinations and resuscitation interventions” once the child has been brought to the surface, reports Europe 1. A medical helicopter is also available for the treatment. Rayan’s charge.
The 5-year-old boy accidentally fell into a dry well on Tuesday February 1 “in a moment of inattention”. His father was present on the spot and worked on the repair site of said well. Briefly believed to have disappeared, Rayan was quickly spotted at the bottom of the well, allowing rapid intervention by the emergency services. “When he disappeared yesterday, I prayed to God and begged him to get him out of this well safe and sound. I hope the rescuers and the rescuers will succeed in saving my son”, hopes Wassima Kharchich, the mother de Rayan, worried about the difficulty of the rescue operation.
Faced with the ordeal of the little boy, all the inhabitants of the village hold their breath and many messages of empathy flourish on social networks. On Twitter support hashtags have emerged as #PrayforRayan and peak at the top of the Top Tweets.