Six-year-old slips into borewell in Karnataka

A six-year-old boy Sunday slipped into a dry borewell and got stuck about 100 ft-deep in Bagalkot district of Karnataka.

The incident happened in a village near Badami, about 550 km from state capital Bangalore.

"The boy (Thimanna) suddenly fell into the borewell while playing with his brother and friends in the village. The borewell was dug in June and left unattended, as there were no rains then," S.R. Patil, district in-charge minister, told reporters at the accident spot.

The district authorities launched rescue operations with the help of police and experts from irrigation and public works departments to dig a parallel hole to rescue the trapped boy out from the dark pit.

"Oxygen is being supplied to the boy through a pipe. View of the boy through a closed circuit television camera, which was lowered to 60-80 feet underground showed his one hand and leg folded with some movement," Patil said.

The rescue team has pressed one earth moving machine and one drilling machine to dig the hole a few feet away from the dry borewell to rescue the boy.

"Rescue efforts are hampered by incessant rain and strong wind in the village," Patil, who is cabinet minister for IT and biotechnology, added.