IGHRAN, Morocco – The Moroccan royal palace says a 5-year-old boy who was trapped in a deep well for four days has died.
Moroccan King Mohammed VI expressed his condolences to the boy’s parents in a statement released by the palace, AP reported.
The boy, Rayan, was pulled out Saturday night by rescuers after a lengthy operation that captivated global attention.
Moroccan rescuers on Saturday pulled a 5-year-old boy out of a deep well where he was trapped for four days.
His parents had been escorted to an ambulance before the boy, Rayan, emerged. His plight had captured worldwide attention.
Attempts to rescue a 5-year-old boy trapped in a Moroccan well stretched into a fourth day Saturday, with unstable soil threatening the painstaking work of trying to dig him out safely. Fears grew that that it may be too late.
Online messages of support and concern for the boy, Rayan, poured in from around the world as the rescue efforts dragged through the night.
Rescuers used a rope to send oxygen and water down to the boy as well as a camera to monitor him. By Saturday morning, the head of the rescue committee, Abdelhadi Temrani, said: “It is not possible to determine the child’s condition at all at this time. But we hope to God that the child is alive.”
Rayan fell into a 32-meter (105-feet) well located outside his home in the village of Ighran in Morocco’s mountainous northern Chefchaouen province on Tuesday evening. He is now trapped in a hole too narrow for rescuers to reach safely.