Local people and rescue team members rescue a five-year-old boy who was trapped in a deep dry well in Jaldak area of Qalat city, Zabul province, Afghanistan, Feb. 17, 2022. (Photo by Arghand/Xinhua)
KABUL, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- A five-year-old Afghan boy, who was trapped in a 20-meter-deep dry well at mid-day on Tuesday, was found dead on Friday in Afghanistan's Zabul province, an Interior Ministry official wrote on Twitter.
The unfinished water well was so narrow that rescuers could not go down to bring the boy, named Haider, to the ground and rescue him as the search and rescue teams had been looking for him for over 70 hours, Anas Haqqani, a senior official of the ministry, tweeted from the site.
"Despite all the efforts, Haider's life could not be saved, leaving millions of sympathizers sad. We wish Haider's family especially his mother patience and great reward from Allah almighty," the Taliban-led caretaker government said in a statement.
Dozens of excavators and bulldozers were used to dig a big hole near the mouth of the well to reach the boy in Jaldak area of the province, 340 km in the south of Afghanistan's capital of Kabul, according to the source.
According to local officials, the rescue teams lifted the body of the ill-fated boy roughly at 10:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) Friday from the well.
Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, acting defense minister of the caretaker government, traveled to Zabul province to monitor the rescue operation, according to the government. ■
