Moroccan rescuers get closer to boy trapped in well for five days

Rescue workers edged closer on Saturday to reaching a 5-year-old boy who has been trapped for five days in a well in northern Morocco, a case that has gripped the country.

The child, publicly identified only by his first name, Rayan, fell into the well in the hill town of Chefchaouen on Tuesday.

The well is 32 metres (100 feet) deep and narrows as it descends from a 45cm (18 inches) diameter at the top, which means rescuers cannot go down themselves to retrieve the child.

Rescuers have worked with bulldozers to cut a massive trench into the hill next to the well, leaving a gaping hole in the reddish earth. By Saturday morning they were digging horizontally towards the well, and installing PVC tubes to protect against landslides and get the boy out.

“This second rescue step is about to finish ... we are racing to get to Rayan and digging goes as planned,” lead rescuer Abdelhadi Tamrani told state TV 2M early on Saturday.