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18-month-old boy falls into 60-feet deep Haryana borewell, rescue ops underway

Rescuers were struggling to reach an 18-month-old child almost two days after he fell into a 60-feet deep borewell on Wednesday evening in Haryana’s Hisar district, officials said on Friday.

Indian Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and local authorities were involved in the rescue operation in Balsamand village after Nadeem Khan fell into the borewell near his house while playing on Wednesday evening.

Hisar’s deputy commissioner Ashok Kumar Meena said the condition of the boy, the son of labourer Azam Khan, was fine and that the rescue team has dropped oxygen tubes inside the borewell to help him breathe. Officials said biscuits and juices have also been sent down.

“It will now take more than two hours to rescue the child. A GPS tracker has been sent inside the borewell to track the exact location of the child. As soon as the team gets the location, the process to rescue the child will be expedited,” Hisar’s deputy commissioner Ashok Kumar Meena said.

As soon as the child is rescued, he will be sent to Agroha Medical College and a route has been identified and cleared for the transfer, Meena said.

Closed-circuit television or CCTV cameras lowered into the well showed the boy sitting with his back to screen.

Sources said that the NDRF team and army personnel have dug another 70-ft hole about 17-ft away from the main borewell where the child fell. Earthmovers and tractors have been pressed into service as two ambulances could be seen near the site.

“On Wednesday, it was about 5.15pm when the child was playing and he suddenly fell inside the borewell,” a local resident and panch of village Khursheed Ahmed said.

His parents, who were also near the spot, informed the village sarpanch who then contacted the police and local administration. Meena and superintendent of police (SP) Shiv Charan reached the spot and ordered a rescue work.

The local police had a tough time as the villagers from nearby village crowded the spot and gathered to see the rescue process.

Deputy commissioner Meena said legal action will be taken against the person who dug the borewell without taking permission from the concerned department.

The accident has once again brought into focus the dangers posed by uncovered borewells, which have turned into death traps for children in the past.

A massive operation was launched in 2006 to rescue five-year-old Prince, who had fallen into a borewell in a village in Kurukshetra. He was pulled out safely after nearly 48 hours.

First Published:
Mar 22, 2019 15:36 IST

Source: HindustanTimes