Afghan rescuers scramble to save boy trapped down well

Rescuers in Afghanistan are scrambling to reach a boy trapped for two days down a well in southern Zabul province.

The operation in Shokak village comes less than two weeks after a similar attempt to rescue a child from a well in Morocco captured the world’s attention – but that operation ended with the boy found dead.

Videos shared on social media on Thursday showed a boy identified as Haidar wedged in the well, able to move his arms and upper body.

Efforts underway to rescue Afghan boy trapped in well for more than 45 hours but no success yet.
Technical assistance is urgently needed.
Plz retweet to get attention of those who can help.#saveHaider#Zabul #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/pvphU0pQuA

— ‌Bismellah Pashtonml (@bpashtonmal) February 17, 2022

“Are you OK my son?” his father can be heard saying. “Talk with me and don’t cry, we are working to get you out.”

“OK, I’ll keep talking,” the boy replies in a plaintive voice.

The video was obtained by rescuers lowering a camera down the narrow well by rope.

Local officials said the boy appeared trapped about 10 metres (33 feet) down the 25-metre shaft.

“A team is there with an ambulance, oxygen and other necessary things,” Abdullah Azzam, secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in the Taliban-run government, wrote on Twitter.

Rescuers were digging an open slit trench from an angle at the surface to try to reach the point where the boy is trapped.

It appeared similar engineering to what rescuers attempted in Morocco in early February, when five-year-old Rayan fell down a 32-metre well, but was found dead five days later.

The ordeal gripped the world and sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic Twitter hashtag #SaveRayan trending.