Rescuers have yet to save two-year-old Sajid, who fell into an abandoned 35-foot-deep well in Rajshahi’s Tanore upazila. Fire service personnel and locals continue their relentless efforts to rescue him.
Three excavators are being used to dig soil beside the well in Koelhat village of Panchandar union under the upazila. Five units of the fire service have joined the rescue operation.
Several thousand people spent a sleepless night in the field to see the rescue efforts. Even after sending cameras several times into the deep well, Sajid could not be seen because soil and straw falling from above blocked the visibility.
Locals said that about a year ago, landowner Kachir Uddin tried to install a semi-deep tube well for irrigation. At that time, after digging 35 feet without finding water, he abandoned the plan. Since then, it has remained open for a year.
Sajid fell into that well around 1pm on Wednesday. As of 11am on Thursday, efforts were still underway to rescue the child. Oxygen is being supplied continuously into the well to keep the kid alive. His mother was seen sitting silently there.
Sajid’s parents are Rakibul Islam and Runa Khatun. They are residents of Koelhat village. Rakibul works in Dhaka as a warehouse manager. They have three sons. Sajid, aged two, is the middle child. Runa was carrying her youngest son Sadman in her arms while they were walking along the path, but Sajid accidentally fell into the well.
Runa said, “I was walking ahead, and Sajid was behind me. After a short while, I turned back and saw Sajid was gone. I could only hear him calling out ‘Ma, Ma’.”
“The mouth of the deep well was covered with straw, so it was not clearly visible,” she added.
Earlier at night, Rajshahi Fire Service Assistant Director Didarul Alam said the child seemed to be alive. He assured us that maximum effort was being made to rescue him unharmed.
