Indian toddler stuck in abandoned well for three days

Rescue efforts are continuing to get a toddler out of the well he has been stuck in for three days in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Two-year-old Sujith Wilson fell into an abandoned well in Nadukattupatti of the Tiruchirappalli district while playing with friends on Friday evening.

The BBC reported that Wilson initially fell 10 metres but had since fallen further into the open well.

A massive drilling operation at the site to rescue the boy was proving difficult due to the rocky nature of the site’s terrain, local media reported.  

“Rocky terrain has slowed the drilling of a new borewell. Rescue may take another 12 hours,” Tamil Nadu Relief Commissioner, Dr Radhakrishnan told local media reporters on Monday.

“Forty feet more to be drilled and then a passage needs to be cut. The child is in a stable condition and is being monitored via camera,” he added.

The depth of the well is disputed, with some claiming it to be 600 feet, while others suggesting it may be as deep as 1,000 feet. 

On the occasion of Hindu celebration of Diwali, former Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted that he was praying for Wilson to be reunited with his “distraught parents at the earliest”.

While the nation celebrates Deepavali, in Tamil Nadu a race against time is underway to save baby Surjeeth, who has been trapped in a borewell since Friday. I pray that he will be rescued & reunited with his distraught parents at the earliest 🙏#savesurjeeth

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 27, 2019

In the past few years, cases of children falling in open wells have been recorded across India.

Illegal drilling to extract water in areas where groundwater is depleting has often been cited for the presence of these wells. 

In June, a two-year-old child died after he fell in a borewell for nearly 110 hours in Sangrur, Punjab.