2-year-old boy pulled out of borewell in Punjab after 110 hours, dies

A two-year-old child stuck in a borewell shaft here was pulled out dead Tuesday morning, bringing a four-day rescue operation to a tragic end.

Rescue workers retrieved Fatehvir Singh from the 150-foot disused shaft in Bhagwanpura village at 4.45 am, after an effort that lasted nearly 110 hours amid diminishing hopes of the boy being brought out alive.

A waiting ambulance, carrying doctors and a life-support ventilator, carried the toddler 130 km away to Chandigarh's Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). Doctors there said he was dead on arrival.

A post mortem report suggested Fatehvir died due to hypoxia cause by deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching tissues. Though the report pointed out the toddler had died "a few days back", but PGIMER sources quoting additional details emerging out of post mortem suggested the child's death could have taken place "3-4 days ago".

"On admission, he had no pulse, no respiration and no cardiac activity, hence the child was declared brought in dead," the PGI statement said.

The death triggered fresh protests with local residents blocking roads, accusing authorities of botching up the rescue operation.

Amid criticism from opposition parties over alleged lapses, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asked the state's disaster management group, headed by the chief secretary, to come up with recommendations to deal better with such situation in the future.

Fatehvir had stepped on a disused shaft, covered with a piece of cloth, on Thursday afternoon.

After post-mortem, a helicopter arranged by Punjab government brought the toddler's body back to Bhagwanpura.

Family members and other villagers struggled to hold back tears as the body was placed in a small wooden coffin before being consigned to the flames.

The child had turned two Monday, when he was still stuck at a depth of 125 feet in the shaft.

The toddler was taken to PGIMER amid police security, Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori told PTI.

There was police deployment at PGIMER also. A small group of protesters had gathered at the hospital, condemning delay in the rescue operation.

With a few locals alleging some iron pipes with a hook was used while extricating Fatehvir, Thori categorically rejected the charge, saying no physical harm was done to the child in the recovery process.

Thori further said NDRF managed to clamp both hands of Fatehvir in the early phase of the rescue operation.

"As the child's hands were already clamped, NDRF personnel had been trying at least thrice a day to bring him out of the borewell he had fallen into. The child's position inside the shaft loosened up with the soil being taken out of the parallel borewell and that helped in his retrieval," he said.

With questions being raised over rescue operation, Thori said, "Given the depth of the borewell, it was one of the toughest rescue operations for the NDRF since its inception."
Another villager said," When the child was pulled out, he was already dead. His body had started to decompose. Why did the administration harass the family and prolong their agony by rushing him to PGI, which is over 150 km away."