New Delhi: A 10-year-old boy passed away in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district on Sunday after falling into a 140-foot borewell a day earlier. This despite a valiant 16-hour rescue operation. The boy well into the uncovered borewell while flying a kite near his home on Saturday evening. The deceased has been identified as Sumit.
He was trapped at a depth of 39 feet, which was abandoned without a proper covering. Sumit’s family began a search for him when he did not return for a long time and eventually discovered him stuck inside the borewell. Authorities were immediately informed, and rescue teams, including personnel from the NDRF, were deployed to the site.
The rescue operation
The rescue operation began with the excavation of a 45-foot-deep parallel pit using JCBs and a Poklane machine. The teams then manually dug a tunnel to reach the borewell where Sumit was trapped. Oxygen was supplied to the boy via a pipe to ensure he could breathe. Guna Collector Dr Satendra Singh, superintendent of police Sanjeev Sinha, and local Congress MLA Jaivardhan Singh, oversaw the rescue operation.
After being pulled out at around 9.30am on Sunday, Sumit was rushed to a nearby hospital on life support. His condition was critical at the time of arrival at hospital. He was unresponsive and showed signs of severe hypothermia, with swollen limbs, wet clothes, and mud in his mouth. Despite the doctors’ efforts, Sumit passed away shortly after reaching the hospital.
Guna’s chief medical officer, Dr Rajkumar Rishishwar, said that the child’s prolonged exposure to the cold and his wet condition may have contributed to his death. The exact cause will be determined after the post-mortem examination.
