A four-year-old boy who fell into an open borewell in Haryana’s Ambala district died despite a nearly 19-hour rescue operation involving the Indian Army, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local authorities.
The child was trapped inside the borewell in Dhanaura village early Tuesday. Rescue teams battled rising water, unstable soil and continuous rain before finally pulling him out. He was rushed to hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead.
Rescue operation hampered by rain, rising water
Officials said the rescue became increasingly difficult as water seeped into the borewell from a depth of around 60 feet. The child remained trapped while the water level continued to rise.
Heavy rainfall and loose soil repeatedly disrupted excavation work, forcing rescuers to revise and restart parts of the operation several times.
“The child was stuck in the borewell, which was filled with water. The child was slowly sinking and the water was gradually rising… There were numerous challenges due to which we had to relaunch the operation again and again, and it went on for 18-19 hours,” NDRF Assistant Commandant Anil Kumar said.
He added that rescue personnel did not observe any signs of life during the final phase of the operation.
Doctors declare child brought dead
Once the child was retrieved, he was immediately shifted in a Health Department ambulance to City Hospital.
Medical Officer Dr Rishipal said doctors began examining the child as soon as he arrived.
“We started the examination of the child as soon as he was rescued… When we conducted an ECG at the hospital here, he was declared brought dead,” he said.
The body has been sent to the mortuary for a post-mortem examination. Dr Rishipal said the exact cause of death would be known only after the autopsy.
Authorities later sealed the borewell at the accident site in Dhanaura village.