Tamil Nadu infant slips deeper into borewell

Tiruchy: Hopes of rescue receded as two-year-old Sujith Wilson slipped further to about 100 feet depth into the borewell in his father’s corn field at Nadukattupatti village near Manapparai near here even as multiple expert agencies and teams continued efforts to retrieve him for the second day on Saturday.

“Despite our best efforts and the hard work of various organisations, the boy could not be retrieved so far and has in fact slipped further to about 100 feet. He has not been responding to our calls and there is no sign of any movement in him since 5.30 this morning. He did respond with feeble 'hmm' noises even at 3.30 a.m., but has fallen silent since then. Also, mud has slipped from the walls of the narrow borewell walls and fallen on him”, health minister Dr C. Vijaya Baskar said.

He has been camping at the mishap site since Friday evening, along with ministerial colleague Vellamandi Natarajan and senior officials to oversee the rescue operations. The minister made a startling disclosure that the kid after slipping down further was now at a position where the borewell was just four inches in diameter, whereas the pipe was six inches at the starting point. It is difficult to imagine how anyone, even a kid just two years old, can fit into a pipe of just four inches wide. Things appear hopeless, tragically.  

After the failure of over six different expert teams coming from various parts of the state and elsewhere, along with their machines and innovative gadgets to rescue the kid, a group comprising the ONGC and NLC experts began work late Saturday night to dig a pit parallel to the borewell pipe and a little deeper than Sujith’s position at 100 ft. A volunteer from the state fire service has been drafted to don special outfit, including focus light and tunneling equipment, to drill a four-inch diameter tunnel to reach the boy.

“We first thought of digging the pit about one metre from the borewell but decided to do it three metres away to prevent caving in of the soft mud or the vibration if we hit a rock which could harm the kid and the borewell. These experts are experienced in doing such deep tunnels, such as the underground Metro Rail works”, said Minister Vijaya Baskar, adding that he hoped the boy would be reached by the brave fireman in about three hours.  But with Sujith already trapped for over 30 hours and has been slipping deeper into the borewell, the worst is feared. Also, earth had slipped on him and the head is believed to be covered with two inches of mud, officials overseeing the operation told DC.

“We are continuing to pump in oxygen but it is unlikely he is getting it as he is buried so deep and there is mud covering him”, said an officer requesting anonymity.

He said it was possible that the borewell could be much deeper and not covered as being claimed by the kid's father, which was why Sujith has slipped deeper.
Minister Vijaya Baskar also said the teams from the National Disaster Rescue Force and State Rescue Force tried for a couple of hours and decided to make way for the ONGC-NLC team late evening. There have been complaints that the government acted lethargic in not summoning the NDRF and the State Rescue Force much earlier.

Fireman gets ready to dig through deep earth
After the various methods by multiple rescue teams, including the National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) and SDF (State Disaster Rescue Force), failed to reach Sujith  even 30 hours since the two-year-old fell into the borewell at about 5.40 pm on Friday, the government has now turned to the 'tunnel technique' prescribed by a combined team of the ONGC and Neyleli Lignite Corporation (NLC) to reach the kid.

The team will use a volunteer from the state fire service for digging the earth three metres from borewell site and reach the kid by digging/drilling a tunnel using the same method/technique used in making the tunnels even 100 metres below surface for Metro Rail, according to State Health Minister Dr C Vijaya Baskar, who has been at the site since late Friday evening to oversee the rescue operations.

“We are going to use the tunneling technique used in the Metro Rail projects”, said the Minister late evening, after all the other methods had failed.

The fireman volunteer was readied, with special gear, for going down the 75-odd feet deep pit and then crawl through the tunnel to reach the kid, a very risky operation considering the soil condition--varying between soft earth further loosened by heavy rains and the unpredictable rocky depths.

Chances of success sadly appeared rather bleak late evening, as the little kid had gone silent at about 5.30 a.m. despite repeated calling by mother and uncle from above the tunnel head. The fact that he's so young and has been caught deep in a dark tunnel that is fatally narrow at a mere four inches diameter, could have led to serious consequences.

“We are not sure if the oxygen being supplied is reaching him considering that he has gone below 75 feet. Besides, about two inches of mud has fallen on his head, making it heavy and choking further”, said a senior officer overseeing the rescue operation.

“Just imagine how narrow would a four-inch wide pipe would be; it's smaller than the diameter of an adult's arm. I think they must prepare the family and others for the inevitable tragedy”, said another officer.