Tragic end to Sujith's rescue operation as 2-year-old dies in borewell
Sujith Wilson Rescue Latest: Sujith Wilson's fight against time ended in the early hours of Tuesday as his body was retrieved from the borewell in a decomposed state. Rescue operations that lasted for 80 hours were not enough to save the life of the 2-year-old kid who had fallen into an abandoned borewell on Friday at 5:30 pm. The NDRF team had drilled a 110-feet deep hole parallel to the borewell, through which Sujith's depth was measured as 100 feet.
Due to the rocky terrain, it was difficult for the machinery to dig through with their existing machines. Hence, special drilling equipment cut out for digging through rocky terrain was brought in from Chennai.
Despite all the efforts, the operations were not sufficient to save Sujith's life. His body was taken to the hospital before being handed over to the family members. It is being reported that Sujith's body was in a decomposed state.
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Here's how the rescue efforts unfolded:
07:15 am: Sujith's body being taken to his residence in Nadukattupatti
05:00 am: Sujith's body being taken to the hospital for Autopsy
3:30 am: 2-year-old boy's body is now in decomposed state
Monday, October 28
9:40 pm: Depth of the pit has been increased to 65 feet. Efforts on to rescue 2-year-old Sujith
07:00 pm: "Just like everyone else, I too am praying for the safe return of toddler Sujith", said DMK President M K Stalin.
06: 51 pm: Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami took to Twitter following his discussion with PM Modi and said, "Three State ministers had been deputed to the Nadukattupatti to check on the rescue operations". "Heavy duty drilling machines and equipment had been deployed, with experts on hand to provide assistance".
06:46 pm: A sudden burst of rain has hampered rescue operations in the village.
06:33 pm: Monitoring through cameras indicate that the child is trapped at a depth of about 88 feet and some soil has fallen on him, the senior official said. But it is not clear what his condition is or whether he is conscious.
06:30 pm: The child is in a "stablilised location," and this point of space has been air-locked to prevent the boy from sliding down further.
06:27 pm: Extra care needs to be taken and the drilling cannot be rushed since there are chances of the abandoned borewell getting closed completely due to vibrations, Commissioner of Revenue Administration J Radhakrishnan said, adding that this remains a key challenge.
06:25 pm: German-made drilling machine has been deployed to dig a parallel shaft to reach the boy stuck in an abandoned borewell at a depth of 88 feet for the last 72 hours, but rescue efforts were hampered by rocky soil and rain, officials said
06:17 pm: A pit has been dug up to 60-feet so far, near the borewell in Nadukattupatti, where operation is underway to rescue 2-year-old Sujith Wilson. Drilling by borewell drilling machine is complete, further drilling is being done by a rig machine.
05:55 pm: Sujith Wilson, who fell into an abandoned borewell near Tiruchirapalli, is stuck at a depth of almost 100 feet over 72 hours after the incident occurred, as anxiety has risen over the child's well-being with rescue efforts hampered by rocky soil and rain.
04: 10 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and took an update. "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," PM Modi tweeted.
04:05 pm: The Lok Sabha MP for Theni, Raveendranath Kumar, lauded Sujith's rescue operations which are underway in Nadukattupatti and said that the government had left no stone unturned in the operations. "I believe that the child will be rescued by tonight", Kumar said.
03:45 pm: Drilling quickens: As the light showers which had slowed down rescue operations having ceased, the pace of drilling by the borewell drilling machine has quickened. Till now, four holes have been dug upto a depth of 20 feet.
03:41 pm: Revenue Administration Commissioner Radhakrishnan said, "The Tamil Nadu government will bear all the expenses of the toddler once he was pulled to safety and assured citizens that the child will be rescued in 12 hours".
03:39 pm: Rajinikanth's wife enquires about Sujith: The rescue operations having been taking place for 69 hours now, the wife of actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth, Latha Rajinikanth, spoke to Deputy CM O Panneerselvam over the phone and enquired about Sujith and the progress of his rescue operations.
03:03 pm: Sujith Wilson stuck at 88-feet: Two-year-old Sujith Wilson who fell into an abandoned borewell in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli district, is stuck at 88 feet inside the borewell.
02:50 pm: Drilling crosses 45-feet mark: The borewell drilling machine which was roped in to drill three holes, of 6 inches diameter each crossed 45 feet mark which had been dug by the ONGC rig. Once the borewell drills the three holes up to 110 feet, the rig will be used to widen the pit, after which the rescue personnel will descend into the pit and dig a horizontal tunnel to pull the 2-year-old Sujith Wilson out.
02:31 pm: Revenue Administration Commissioner, Radhakrishnan said, It would take another 12 hours for Sujith to be rescued from the borewell. "No matter what, we will not abandon the operations halfway", said Radhakrishnan.
02:22 pm: Six teams of the NDRF and the SDRF, have been deployed to rescue Sujith Wilson
02:17 pm: 60 hours and counting, Sujith faces race against time as rescue operations pick up pace
02:11 pm: NDRF took over the rescue operation on Saturday after other techniques tried out to rescue Sujith failed.
02:05 pm: The initial attempts of reaching Sujith failed because the machinery had to be stopped midway as the terrain was rocky and it was believed that the process could cause vibrations that may loosen the soil inside the borewell which could lead to Sujith slipping further down.
02:00 pm: The Rescue operation requires digging a parallel hole of 110-feet to safely bring out Sujith who is stuck at 100 feet. As per reports, the digging team has only reached 40 feet thus far. Due to the terrain being rocky, stronger blades are being sent from Chennai to dig more efficiently.
01:50 pm: Rescue team used a special equipment 'borewell robot' in their earlier attempts to bring Sujith out of the borewell. Unfortunately the plan was unsuccessful.
01:45 pm: Sujith Wilson fell into the borewell at around 5.30 pm on Friday and got stuck at 30 feet. Late at night, he fell further down to about 100 feet.
