Damoh: A three-year-old boy, Prince Athya, fell into an over 300-feet-deep uncovered borewell in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district on Sunday, and efforts to rescue him failed, a police official said. This is the second such incident in the state in four days.
"The boy, identified as Prince Athya, fell into the borewell in Barkhera Bes village shortly after Sunday noon. He was pulled out at around 6:30 pm after a five-hour rescue operation carried out by a Special Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team and other rescuers," Damoh district collector S Krishna Chaitanya told reporters.
"After pulling him out, the boy was rushed to the primary health center (PHC) at Patera where he was declared dead by doctors after the medical examination," Block Medical Officer (BMO) Ashok Baronia said. He said the boy died due to asphyxiation two hours before he was brought out of the borewell.
Officials had earlier said that the boy's name was Priyansh. The boy fell into the borewell dug up by his father Dharmendra Athya, at their farm while playing at around 1 pm on Sunday, Patera police station in-charge Shyam Bihari Mishra said.
The people of the house started searching and they could not find Prince. Meanwhile, people working nearby in the fields saw the child falling into the borewell, and immediately informed other villagers. The child is stuck about 20 feet below while two JCB machines were excavating near the borewell to save the child.
READ: MP: Boy dies after being rescued from borewell post 16-hr operation
A team of local administration and health department officials also left for the spot, he said.
Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Abhishek Singh Thakur said that about 16 to 17 feet have been excavated and the team will start rescue operation after digging two-three feet more. Meanwhile, the Collector has also taken cognizance of the matter and issued instructions to save the child by making every effort.
Earlier, MLA PL Tantuvay has also reached the spot after being informed about the incident.
On Thursday, a three-year-old boy fell into an over 200-feet deep borewell in Badarchhad village of Umaria district.
He was pulled out on Friday after efforts for more than 16 hours, but was declared dead by doctors, an official said.
(With Agency Inputs)
