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Topics: World News
Jake Massey
Rescuers in Morocco are inching closer to a five-year-old boy who has been trapped in a well for four nights. Watch here:
Rayan fell into a 105ft well located outside his home in the village of Ighran, in the northern Chefchaouen province, on Tuesday (1 February) evening.
The hole he is trapped in is too narrow for rescuers to reach safely.
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Rayan's father was repairing the well at the time of the accident and said he and Rayan's mother were 'devastated and very worried'.
"In that one moment I took my eyes off him, the little one fell into the well. I haven't slept a wink", he told news site le360 on Wednesday.
For three days, search crews used bulldozers to dig a parallel ditch, and yesterday, they started excavating a horizontal tunnel to reach the trapped boy.
Work was temporarily halted because of fears that the soil surrounding the well could collapse on the boy, but later resumed.
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Speaking yesterday afternoon, Abdesalam Makoudi - one of the rescue operation's leaders - said the end was in sight.
According to the BBC, he said: "We're almost there.
"We've been working non-stop for three days and tiredness is kicking in, but the whole rescue team is hanging on."
Today, experts used a rope to send oxygen and water down to the boy, as well as a camera to monitor him - but they did not provide information about his condition.
Medical staff - including specialists in resuscitation - are on site to attend to the boy once he is pulled out, with a helicopter on standby to transport him to the nearest hospital.
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Rayan's mum told reporters: "The whole family went out to look for him. Then we realised that he'd fallen down the well.
"I'm still keeping up hope that we'll get him out alive."
Rayan's distraught parents have been joined by hundreds of villagers and others who have gathered to watch the rescue operation.
Nationwide, Moroccans took to social media to offer their hopes for the boy's survival, using the hashtag #SaveRayan, which has brought global attention to the rescue efforts.