Borewell tragedy: Another hi-power rig to be deployed to extricate toddler
Tiruchirapalli, Oct 27 (UNI) The ongoing massive operation to rescue a two-year-old boy trapped in a borewell at Nadukattupatti village in Tiruchirapalli district of Tamil Nadu suffered further delay as the drilling bit of the rig become blunt due to drilling through the hard rock below the ground on Sunday evening.
The rescue teams this morning commenced drilling of a new massive ‘hole’ three metres away from the borewell using the rig this morning in a last ditch attempt to reach and rescue the boy, Sujith Wilson, who remained stuck at a depth of nearly 100 feet in an unused 600-feet deep borewell for more than 48 hours.
It was planned to drill the ground to a depth of around 110 feet and then to drill a horizontal tunnel to link the borewell through which specially trained personnel of Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services Department will enter into the hole with oxygen masks to pull out the boy.
As the drilling bit of the rig become blunt, another drilling rig, with twice the power of the one already being used was brought to the village, this evening.
Official sources said a depth of around 35 feet had been dug so far. We expect the drilling process could become more faster once the alternate hi-power rig commenced its operation.
Tamil Nadu Health Minister C.Vijayabaskar, who has been camping and monitoring the entire rescue mission, told newsmen that an expert team from Anna University in Chennai used a thermal device to detect the body temperature of the toddler.
The team concluded that the boy might be unconscious, but there is no way to confirm it. We could not see any movement of the boy since Saturday morning, he said.
Referring to the much longer delay than anticipated in rescuing the child, he said the rescue teams have to ensure that the vibrations do not disturb or hurt the child and that is one of the reasons for the slow pace of the rescue work.
He said the entire official machinery has been pressed into service to extricate the boy safely.
Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management R.B.Udhayakumar, Commissioner of Revenue Administration and Disaster Management J.Radhakrishnan also rushed to the village to oversee the rescue operation.
Experts from the ONGC, NLC, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services Department were involved in the rescue operation.
Image: twitter video grab
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