Unsuccessful rescue operation
After a fatal fall into a well: Thousands attend the funeral of a five-year-old in Morocco
Mourning in Morocco: Five-year-old Rayan is buried in the village of Ighrane in rural Chefchaouen province in the north of the country
© Fadel Senna / AFP
Five-year-old Rayan showed signs of life two days after falling into a 32-metre-deep well in Morocco. In the end, the rescue attempt failed. According to local media, thousands said goodbye.
In the past few days, the child’s fate had made headlines around the world. The little boy Rayan, who fell into a well and finally died in Morocco, was buried with great sympathy. In addition to the family and villagers, many people from outside also came to the ceremony on Monday, the state agency MAP reported. Local media spoke of thousands of participants.
Five-year-old Rayan fell into an unsecured well near his home in a village about 150 kilometers north of the city of Fes on Tuesday last week. A lengthy and complicated rescue operation was unsuccessful.
Rayan was pronounced dead on Saturday
Because of the narrow width of the shaft, rescue teams first excavated earth parallel to the well and then dug a tunnel horizontally to Rayan. The work was repeatedly interrupted because the rescuers feared that the shaft could collapse due to the nature of the ground. A landslide and boulders had also delayed the rescue.
Rayan, who was stranded at a depth of 32 meters for days, was pronounced dead after the rescue on Saturday. Two days after the fall there were still signs of life from him. Helpers had previously roped down a camera to check his health. The exact cause of the boy’s death is still unclear.
Again and again children die in similar accidents. Illegal wells that are drilled due to drought and water shortages are often to blame. Moroccan media on Monday highlighted the dangers posed by illegally dug wells in the country to irrigate fields, including for cannabis cultivation. The government has been asked to take action.