Rescue teams on Saturday are racing against time in their arduous efforts, which are progressing slowly, to save five-year-old Rayan who has been trapped for five days in a deep well in northern Morocco, hoping to bring him out alive. Abdelhadi Thamarani, the official in charge of the rescue operation committee, told AFP, "It is difficult to ascertain anything regarding his health condition," explaining that the camera fixed above the well "shows him lying on his side; we can only see his back, but the hope is very high."
In response to a question about whether the child is still alive, Thamarani confirmed, "We cannot be certain of that," indicating that an ambulance and a medical helicopter are on standby to transfer him to the nearest hospital as soon as he is rescued alive. The rescue teams have worked to provide him with water and oxygen in recent days, but they have not confirmed whether he has used them, according to AFP reporters. The fate of Rayan has generated extreme anticipation both in the country and abroad, although hopes of bringing him out alive are diminishing with the passage of time.
Thamarani stated, "We cannot determine the remaining time before the operation is completed, taking into account the technical data and the type of soil, rocks, and stones that the workers might encounter." He pointed out that workers still have "two meters to dig, which represents half the distance" separating them from the bottom of the 32-meter-deep well where the child accidentally fell on Tuesday.
It was believed that the operation was nearing completion. However, work slowed as rescuers resorted to hand digging throughout the night due to fears of soil collapse and after they encountered a rock "which delayed us significantly,” Thamarani noted, mentioning concerns "about the collapse of the well." They are trying to finish digging and securing a horizontal opening extending approximately three meters in hopes of accessing it to retrieve the child, according to local authorities, following a technical study by topographers and civil protection specialists regarding the nature of the soil surrounding the well to secure the sides of the opening.
Teams have been working non-stop in recent hours under strong floodlights that added to the bleakness of the accident scene, according to AFP journalists.
**A Grueling Operation**
The cold did not prevent many people from continuing to gather around the site throughout the night, while security forces, which have reinforced their presence at the location, attempted to keep them away, sometimes disrupting the work of rescuers and journalists. Thousands have flocked to the mountainous area covered with olive and almond trees, showing solidarity with Rayan or wishing to volunteer to assist the rescuers, since news of the incident spread, causing a wave of concern and hopes for a happy ending in Morocco and beyond.
One participant in the arduous operation, Abdel Salam Makoudi, told AFP, "We have been working tirelessly for three days, and we are about to finish; we feel exhausted but all rescue teams are pushing through despite the unexpected emergency." Volunteers have also participated in "offering a helping hand to the rescuers." One of them told AFP, "I've been here for three days. Rayan is from our area, and we pray to God that he comes out alive."
The five-year-old child fell accidentally late Tuesday afternoon into the narrow well that is difficult to descend into, in a village in the Bab Berred area near Chefchaouen city (north), as reported by local media. His mother recounted to local media, "We all mobilized to search for him as soon as he disappeared... until we learned that he fell into the well," adding with deep emotion, "I am still in shock, but I pray to God that they bring him out alive. I have not lost hope."
For his part, his father told the second public television channel on Friday, "I still have hope of seeing my son come out alive. I thank everyone who is working to save him and all those supporting us in Morocco and abroad." Initially, volunteers from the village and rescue teams attempted to descend into the well to retrieve the child, but its narrow diameter "which does not exceed 45 centimeters" prevented that, as explained by operation head Abdelhadi Thamarani to the first public television channel. They also considered widening the diameter of the well, but concerns of soil collapse led rescuers to abandon this option, choosing instead to dig a parallel tunnel amid severe difficulties and carefulness to avoid any collapse.
**Limitations of Equipment**
In addition to these complications, Ahmad Bakhri, an official in the Ministry of Equipment, attributed the obstacles to "the limitations of the equipment used," explaining that "its capacity does not exceed digging 20 meters per day." He added, "The difficulty of deploying more powerful equipment that can dig 100 meters a day... contributed to the delay in rescuing the child." He continued to the local website Hespress, "It would have been possible to succeed in rescuing him in less than 48 hours."
The incident has garnered widespread attention on social media and significant follow-up on rescue operations, as the hashtag "Save Rayan" topped the trending topics in Morocco. The sentiment of solidarity and hope for a happy ending has also resonated in neighboring Algeria and other countries. Hundreds of thousands are following the events of the operation streaming live on local news websites.
Government spokesman Mustapha Baytas said during his weekly conference on Thursday that the incident "pained us greatly and is tragic on a psychological level." He added, "Our hearts are with his family, and we pray to God that he returns to them soon," stressing the mobilization of all necessary resources to achieve that. Spain witnessed a similar incident in 2019 when a two-year-old child accidentally fell into a well, which ended in tragedy as he was found dead after 13 days of search operations, causing great sadness in the country.
