Save Sujith: Rescue teams start digging parallel 110-ft-deep hole
39 hour on, the rescue teams have begun the digging of a 110-feet deep hole to rescue Sujith, the two-year old boy who fell into an abandoned borewell in Tamil Nadu's Nadukattupatti village.
Sujith Wilson fell into an uncovered borewell on Friday at Nadukattupatti village while playing. Despite the efforts of over a dozen rescue teams on the ground, toddler, who is trapped 100-feet below ground level, is yet to be rescued.
A rig of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has reportedly begun drilling a parallel hole of 110-feet-deep through which fire and rescue personnel will enter. The whole will be 1 metre in diameter, and personnel will tunnel through to rescue the child.
Speaking to a TV channel, Tamil Nadu Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar on Saturday morning said that oxygen was being supplied into the borewell, adding that the boy was alive and officials on the spot were able to hear him crying.
According to reports, a team from Anna University confirmed through a specialised thermal camera on Saturday night that the boy was still breathing.
Initial efforts to dig a parallel hole to rescue Sujith was brought to a halt over rocky terrain. Four separate robotic devices brought in by expert groups led by Mandikandan from Madurai, Daniel from Namakkal, Sridhar from Coimbatore, and Venkatesh from Chennai also failed to yield results, with the child being firmly lodged in the borewell.
According to government officials present at the site, the machines allowed for ropes to be lowered and tightened around the wrist of the child to pull him out.
However, that could not succeed due to wet mud and the inability of the child to grasp the ropes.
The child also steadily slipped — from 26-feet on Friday evening to about 100-feet as of Sunday morning
Also Read: Toddler falls into 30-ft borewell in Tamil Nadu, rescue efforts underway
Also Read: 2-year-old Sujith slips further into borewell, rescue operation continue
