Sujith Wilson Declared Dead After Over 80 Hours of Rescue Operation: How Tragedy Unfolded in Tiruchirappalli
Sujith Wilson, a two-year-old boy who fell into an abandoned borewell in Nadukattupatti village in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli district, died after being trapped for four days.
Chennai, October 29: Sujith Wilson, a two-year-old boy who fell into an abandoned borewell in Nadukattupatti village in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli district, died after being trapped for four days. The highly decomposed boy of Sujith Wilson was taken out on early Tuesday after over 80-hours of failed rescue efforts. High-tech equipments, including "borewell robot" were pressed into service to save the toddler. However, all efforts to rescue Sujith Wilson failed.
Sujith Wilson was playing near his house in Nadukattupatti village on Friday evening when he fell into a 600-ft disused farm borewell. He was initially stuck at a depth of 35 feet but slipped further below to over 70 feet. In a bid to rescue the child, authorities used earthmoving equipment to dig a pit near the borewell. The machine was stopped midway as the terrain was rocky. Breaking it would result in vibrations that may loosen the soil inside the borewell, thereby slipping the boy further down.
A special equipment "borewell robot" was brought but it couldn't reach to the boy. According to reports, after falling in the borewell, Sujith Wilson had fainted but was still breathing. While oxygen was being supplied, authorities couldn't assess the boy's condition because of the layers of wet mud around him. Cameras showed some soil had fallen on him. On Sunday, he went further down in the borewell and got stuck at about 100 feet.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) had taken over the rescue operations. It was decided that a parallel hole would be dug to enable rescue and fire team personnel to reach the stuck child. A rig of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was pressed into service to dig a parallel hole. While the rescue efforts were underway, bad foul started emanating from the borewell on Monday evening.
The body that started decomposing was then taken out and sent for postmortem. Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister C Vijayabaskar and Tourism Minister 'Vellamandi' N Nagarajan had been camped at the site since Friday night. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Tamil film star Rajinikanth and actor-politician Kamal Hassan expressed hope that the boy would be safely rescued.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 29, 2019 10:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).