Rescue workers finally reach five-year-old Rayan trapped at the bottom of 100ft well in Morocco

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Rescue teams have today confirmed they finally reached a five-year-old Moroccan boy who has been trapped more than 100ft underground for four days. 

Rayan Awram fell into a 32-metre (105ft) shaft outside his home in Ighran village, in the northern province of Chefchaouen, on Tuesday evening – sparking a rescue mission which has captivated the North African nation. 

The world watched on with bated breath as fears persisted that the cave could collapse at any moment. 

Medical teams were on standby after rescue crews finally reached the ‘motionless’ boy 96 hours after he became trapped on Tuesday.

Moroccan media have reported that resuscitation specialists have entered the tunnel alongside rescue crews, fuelling fears that the five-year-old requires potentially life-saving medical care. 

Experts have warned that it is ‘impossible’ to confirm if the youngster was still alive, having fallen into the well five days ago, as the rescue team finally reached the stranded boy on Saturday afternoon. 

Rayan’s condition remains unknown at present, but it is understood he will be rushed to hospital for urgent checks. Oxygen and water had been given to the child, but it is not known if he was able to use them.

Onlookers applauded, sang religious songs and prayed. At one stage, they chanted in unison ‘Allahu akbar’ or ‘God is greatest’ as rescuers prepared to finally enter the cave. 

As Rayan’s parents have watched on, rescue crews – using bulldozers and front-end loaders – managed to dig almost all the way down parallel to the well by around 10am local time, (9am GMT). 

But the final push to reach the boy who was just six feet away remained the most challenging because of the risk of landslides. After digging with bare hands, Rayan had been reached by rescuers by 3pm local time, (14.00 GMT).

Earlier on 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.’

A massive trench was dug into the hill next to the well, leaving a gaping hole in the reddish earth. By Saturday morning they were digging horizontally towards the well, and installing PVC tubes to protect against landslides and get the boy out.

A glacial cold has gripped this mountainous and impoverished region of Rif, which is at an elevation of about 700 metres. As time went on, fears persisted over whether Rayan would have been recovered alive.

‘We’re almost there,’ said one of the operation’s leaders, Abdesalam Makoudi, adding ‘tiredness is kicking in, but the whole rescue team is hanging on.’ 

On Saturday, experts used a rope to send oxygen and water down to the boy as well as a camera to monitor him, but did not provide information about his condition. On Friday, camera footage from the frantic rescue operation showed the boy lying at the bottom of the shaft, and appeared to be breathing.

‘I pray and beg God that he comes out of that well alive and safe,’ his mother Wassima Kharchich told local television station 2M. ‘Please God, ease my pain and his, in that hole of dust. The whole family went out to look for him then we realised that he’d fallen down the well,’ she added, with tears in her eyes.

His father, who said he was repairing the well when the boy fell into it, was pictured nervously watching the rescue mission late on Friday night.

‘I keep up hope that my child will get out of the well alive,’ Rayan’s father told 2M on Friday evening. ‘I thank everyone involved and those supporting us in Morocco and elsewhere.’

Scores of townspeople and others gathered to help and watch the rescue efforts. Nationwide, Moroccans took to social media to offer their hopes for the boy’s survival, using the hashtag #SaveRayan which has brought global attention to the rescue efforts. 

Thousands of people gathered around the site, surrounded by olive trees, where AFP reporters said the tension was palpable. Some applauded to encourage the rescuers.

The shaft, just 45 centimetres (18 inches) across, was too narrow to reach Rayan, and widening it was deemed too risky – so earth-movers dug a wide slope into the hill to reach him from the side.

The operation has made the landscape resemble a construction site. It involves engineers and topographers, and was made more complex by the mix of rocky and sandy soils.

Red-helmeted Civil Defence personnel have at times been suspended by rope, as if on a cliff face. 

Working non-stop through the darkness overnight, under powerful floodlights that gave a gloomy air to the scene, they are also digging a horizontal tunnel to reach the pocket where Rayan is, local authorities say.

Search crews first used five bulldozers to dig vertically to a depth of more than 31 metres, according to Morocco’s official MAP news agency. 

Then on Friday, they started excavating a horizontal tunnel to reach the trapped boy as experts in topographical engineering were called upon for help. 

Work had to be temporarily halted over fears the ground surrounding the well could collapse, but it was later resumed.  

Medical staff, including specialists in resuscitation, are on site to attend to the boy once he is pulled out, with a helicopter on standby to transport him to the nearest hospital.

The Moroccan government previously said all efforts are being made to help save the boy. 

The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan trending across North Africa.

‘Rescuers are literally in the process of moving a mountain to save little #Rayan. I hope that their efforts will not be in vain and that those who prayed for him will see their prayers answered,’ one internet user wrote.

The boy’s fate has attracted crowds of people to the site, where parked cars lined the roads around the village and supporters are camping.

Police reinforcements have been sent, and the swarm of onlookers has sometimes impeded the rescuers’ efforts.

Authorities have called on the public to ‘let the rescuers do their job and save this child.’

But one volunteer said he was there to help. ‘We’ve been here for three days. Rayan is a child of our region. We won’t leave until he’s out of the well,’ he said.

The accident echoes a tragedy in Spain in early 2019 when a two-year-old child died after falling into an abandoned well 25 centimetres wide and more than 70 metres deep.

Julen Rosello’s body was recovered after a search and rescue operation that lasted 13 days. 

Authorities said the mission was entering its final stages on Friday night – with less than 20ft of earth left to dig to reach him, but there are fears that the well could cave in before the delicate operation to reach him is complete.  

Pictures from the scene show multiple diggers delving deep into the earth from multiple directions in order to reach the boy, as small crowds gathered on the edge of the ever-growing pit. 

Meanwhile, footage showed rescuers sending cameras down the well’s shaft to monitor the boy’s situation, as the rescuers turned on floodlights to continue their efforts overnight. 

On Thursday local media reported that he had taken food and water that was dropped down to him using a rope.  

According to reports by Morocco’s official MAP news agency, rescue workers have used five bulldozers to dig a hole parallel to the well and will hope to break through into where the boy is to rescue him. 

On Thursday afternoon, news website Le360 said that ‘only nine metres’ (30 foot) remained to be dug ‘that will allow rescuers to reach the boy’.

The MAP news agency said rescuers had been able to send him oxygen and water via pipes. 

Rayan’s father told Le360 he had been repairing the well when the boy fell into it.

Lead rescuer Abdelhabi Temrani told Al Oula television that the diameter of the well was less than 45 centimetres.

Baitas said the nature of the soil meant it was too dangerous to try to widen the hole, meaning major excavations around it were the only solution.

The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan going viral across the North African region, including in neighbouring Algeria. 

‘The heart of every Moroccan is with this angel,’ one person wrote on Twitter.

The boy’s fate has also attracted crowds of people to the site of the operation, putting pressure on rescuers operating in ‘difficult conditions’, Baitas said.

‘We call on citizens to let the rescuers do their job and save this child,’ he said.

Authorities have also prepared a helicopter to take the child to hospital once he is extracted, national news channel 2M said.