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Efforts to rescue a two-year-old boy who fell into a 600-feet abandoned borewell in Nadukattupatti in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli district entered its third day Sunday after it was delayed for a few hours.
A rig of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has begun to dig a 110-feet-deep hole that will enable rescue and fire team personnel to reach the child. The operation was earlier suspended after the vehicle carrying the rig developed a snag. The parallel borewell is one metre in diameter.
“A parallel borewell is being dug…efforts are on…We have a technical team at the spot comprising officials from L&T, ONGC, Neyveli Lignite Corporation. The Chief Minister has issued orders to ensure that rescue efforts were carried out without any hindrance,” J Radhakrishnan, who is monitoring the rescue operation, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Meanwhile, special prayers were held across the Tamil Nadu for the safe return of the child. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said, “While the nation celebrates Deepavali, in Tamil Nadu a race against time is underway to save baby Surjeeth, who has been trapped in a borewell since Friday. I pray that he will be rescued and reunited with his
distraught parents at the earliest.”
While the nation celebrates Deepavali, in Tamil Nadu a race against time is underway to save baby Surjeeth, who has been trapped in a borewell since Friday. I pray that he will be rescued & reunited with his distraught parents at the earliest 🙏#savesurjeeth
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 27, 2019
Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth and actor-politician Kamal Hassan also expressed hope that the boy would be safely
rescued.
Speaking to reporters at his residence here, Rajinikanth said, “I pray for the safe rescue of the boy. Parents should take care of children and precautionary measures should have been taken.”
Oxygen is being continuously supplied to the boy, who has been trapped since 5.30 pm on Friday. The child, who fell into the 600 ft borewell while playing near his house at Nadukattupatti on Friday evening, was initially stuck at a depth of 35 feet but drifted further to 100 feet.
Tamil Nadu: Operation still underway to rescue the 2-year-old Sujith Wilson who fell into a 25-feet deep borewell in Nadukattupatti, Tiruchirappalli district on 25th October. Yesterday, the boy fell further down the borewell, currently stuck at 100 feet. pic.twitter.com/N2pALUo7d0
— ANI (@ANI) October 27, 2019
According to officials, six teams were involved in the rescue operations. “We could hear the child weeping.. for a long time.. but now we cannot hear. But we feel the child is safe and breathing,” PTI reported quoting officials.
Authorities said they were unable to assess the boy’s condition because of the layers of wet mud around him. Specialised teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and state Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have joined the rescue operations.
(Inputs from PTI)
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