A view of the village of Ighran and the hill in which the rescue mission of 5-year-old Rayan had been taking place after he was stuck for several days, in Morocco’s Chefchaouen province, Sunday, Feb.
For days — and nights — the community of Ighran, a village in a mountainous area in northern Morocco, had gathered along the edges of the well, cheering on the rescue workers and volunteers digging deep into difficult terrain to reach the hole where the boy, Rayan, was trapped.
Just minutes after the ambulance pulled away, a statement from the royal palace said the boy has died.
Then on Friday, they started excavating a horizontal tunnel to reach the trapped boy.
Rescuers used a rope to send oxygen and water down to the boy as well as a camera to monitor him.
The village of about 500 people is dotted with deep wells, many used for irrigating the cannabis crop that is the main source of income for many in the poor, remote and arid region of Morocco’s Rif Mountains.