Punjab child stuck in borewell: Rescue operation nears completion, toddler turns 2 today

An operation to rescue a child stuck in a 150-foot-deep borewell at Bhagwan Pura village in Punjab’s Sangrur district for past three days was nearing completion, officials said on Sunday. At the time of going to press, the rescuers, who have dug a parallel tunnel, needed to dig a horizontal tunnel of 2-and-a-half feet to reach the child.

An operation to rescue a child stuck in a 150-foot-deep borewell at Bhagwan Pura village in Punjab’s Sangrur district for past three days was nearing completion, officials said on Sunday. At the time of going to press, the rescuers, who have dug a parallel tunnel, needed to dig a horizontal tunnel of 2-and-a-half feet to reach the child.

Fatehveer Singh, who will turn 2 on Monday, fell into the unused borewell in his father Sukhjinder’s field around 4 pm on Thursday. The borewell was covered with a jute bag and the child accidentally stepped on it.

He is stuck at a depth of 125 feet, said officials. More than 700 people, including 400 policemen and 32 personnel from the National Disaster Rescue Force, have been involved in digging the parallel tunnel to rescue the child. At least 200 volunteers from the Dera Sacha Sauda apart from villagers are also helping in the rescue operation that has lasted more than 78 hours.

“We are close to reaching the child. We were hoping to complete the operation during the day, but we faced some technical issues and hopefully these will be overcome,” Deputy Commissioner Ganshyam Thori said.

No food could be provided to the child, who has been unconscious, Thori said. Oxygen was being supplied to him, he said.

On Saturday morning, officials, who were monitoring the child’s condition through camera, had said they had noticed movements by the child.

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