Moroccan boy trapped in well dies before rescue

RABAT, FEB 5 REUTERS

A small boy trapped in a well in northern Moroccan for 5 days died before rescuers were able to reach him late on Saturday and retrieve his body, two government officials said. Rayan Awram, aged 5, fell into the well at his village of Ighran in the hills near Chefchaouen on Tuesday. Rescuers finally reached him late on Saturday after removing much of the adjacent hillside and delicately tunnelling a horizontal passage into the well.

The well was only 45 cm (18 inches) wide at the top and tapered as it dropped 32 m 100 feet to the bottom, where Rayan was trapped, making it impossible for rescuers to descend directly.

Footage posted on social media showed the scene after his body was recovered, with hundreds of distraught rescue workers and onlookers gathered at the site chanting to god and shining the flashlights of their phones into the air.