After 5 days, Tamil Nadu child Sujith trapped in borewell declared dead | How tragedy unfolded
Nearly five days after three-year-old Sujith Wilson fell into a disused borewell near his house in Tamil Nadu's Trichy, authorities on Tuesday confirmed that he was dead. Here is how the operations to rescue Sujith unfolded.
In Short
- Sujith Wilson fell into a disused borewell near his house on Friday
- Various central and state agencies were called in to rescue him
- After 80 hours of rescue ops, he was declared dead by officials
The three-year-old boy who was stuck in an abandoned borewell near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu since Friday is dead, an official said on Tuesday.
Commissioner of Revenue Administration J Radhakrishnan said the body of the child was "dismembered" and in a "highly decomposed" state. "Efforts are on to retrieve the mortal remains of the child," the official said in the early hours of Tuesday.
Officials said only a few parts of the body had been retrieved.
How the Tamil Nadu borewell tragedy unfolded:
Three-year-old Sujith Wilson had fallen into a 600-ft disused farm borewell while playing near his house in Nadukattupatti on Friday evening.
Various central and state agencies were called in to rescue him. Specialised teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) joined the rescue operations.
The child was initially stuck at a depth of 35 feet but drifted further to over 70 feet and then later to over 90 feet on Saturday. The boy was continuously monitored and oxygen supplied to him.
Authorities said they were not able to assess the boy's condition because of the layers of wet mud around him. It was reported that Sujith had fainted but was still breathing. Monitoring through cameras indicated that the child is trapped at a depth of about 88 feet and some soil had fallen on him.
Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister C Vijayabaskar and Tourism Minister 'Vellamandi' N Nagarajan had been camped at the site since Friday night.
Celebrities and politicians also joined thousands of people in praying for the well being of Sujith. Prayer meetings were held across Tamil Nadu for the safe rescue of the child and in several towns, people took out silent marches.
On Sunday, a rig, which could drill up to 100 feet, was pressed into service to make a hole parallel to the borewell about three meters away.
On Monday, a heavy German-made drilling machine was deployed to dig a parallel shaft to reach the boy stuck at a depth of 88 feet, but rescue efforts were hampered by rocky soil and rain. Two Fire and Rescue Services personnel were lowered into the freshly drilled shaft, using a ladder and with all necessary support like oxygen, for initial assessment of the condition inside.
Authorities faced complications in the rescue as the abandoned borewell's diameter is very narrow and Sujith was trapped in rocky soil. Geologists who were consulted pointed out that the soil comprised hard rock of quartz and feldspar. A key challenge was maintaining the speed of the drilling since there were chances of the abandoned borewell getting closed completely in case of vibrations.
Those posted near the borewell observed foul smell around 10.30 pm on Monday following which medical personnel and teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) assessed the situation. Officials said the body is in a highly decomposed state and the digging operation was suspended.
Politicians, celebrities prayed for rescue
Thousands of people had been praying for the well being of the boy and were joined by celebrities and politicians.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said his prayers are with the three-year-old Sujith, trapped in an abandoned borewell since Friday near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, saying every effort is underway to rescue him.
He said he spoke with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palanisamy about the rescue efforts.
My prayers are with the young and brave Sujith Wilson. Spoke to CM @EPSTamilNadu regarding the rescue efforts underway to save Sujith. Every effort is being made to ensure that he is safe. @CMOTamilNadu Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 28, 2019
On Sunday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said, "While the nation celebrates Deepavali, in Tamil Nadu a race against time is underway to save baby Surjeeth, who has been trapped in the borewell since Friday. I pray that he will be rescued and 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
Tamil film star Rajinikanth and actor-politician Kamal Hassan also expressed hope that the boy would be safely rescued.
Speaking to reporters at his residence in Chennai, Rajinikanth said, "I pray for the safe rescue of the boy."
"Parents should take care of children and precautionary measures should have been taken," he said.
Kamal Haasan expressed concern over repeated incidents of children falling into defunct borewells.
"Efforts to rescue the child who is in danger should succeed. The government should impose hefty fines on those who leave borewells open," he tweeted.
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, . Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) October 27, 2019
DMK president MK Stalin and AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran joined them in wishing that the boy was rescued at the earliest.