3-year-old stuck in Punjab borewell for over 110 hours rescued

A three-year-old boy, who has been trapped in a 150-foot-deep borewell for over 110 hours in Punjab’s Sangrur district, was rescued on Tuesday morning. The child was rescued at 5:12 am by joint efforts of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), police officials and local volunteers.

The toddler was taken to a hospital in an ambulance amid police security. “Fatehvir has been pulled out of the borewell and he is being taken to hospital in an ambulance,” Sagrur Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori told PTI.

Asked about health of the child, the commissioner said it was not known yet.

The child, Fatehvir Singh, turned three-years-old on Monday. He fell into the unused seven-inch wide borewell in a field around 4 pm on Thursday (June 6) when he was playing near his house in Bhagwanpura village in Sangrur area.

A team of the NDRF assisted by police, civil authorities, villagers and volunteers, were carrying out the rescue operation amid scorching heat. Some volunteers were also extending help in this regard, officials said.

The child was struck in a 9-inch diameter borewell and was not able to move. His face was covered with a jute bag which fell when the child slipped into the borewell. The borewell was covered with a cloth and the boy accidentally stepped on it.

A massive rescue operation was launched to bring the child safely out of the borewell.

While the officials managed to supply oxygen to the kid, no food or water could be provided to him after he fell into the borewell. The borewell is owned by the child’s father.

A parallel borewell of 36 inches in diameter was dug to rescue the child. Even as the frantic rescue operation was underway to pull out the toddler, a large number of people assembled around the site and several of them raised slogans against the state government for the delay.

Villagers held a protest and blocked the Sunam-Mansa road for some time, as they blamed the district administration for not being able to bring out the child despite four days. Heavy police were deployed around the site to prevent any untoward incident.

Amid the efforts to rescue the child and the protests, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directed all deputy commissioners to ensure no open borewell remains in the state.