The two-year-old boy who was retrieved Tuesday morning from a 150-foot-deep abandoned borewell in a village in Punjab’s Sangrur district after five days of rescue operation has reportedly died.
The toddler Fatehveer Singh’s grandfather claimed that the body of the child had grievous wounds. “He was pulled out (of the borewell) by using strings,” he said.
The rescued child was admitted to the PGI hospital in Chandigarh, some 130 km from the accident spot, Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said.
The boy, who had been trapped in the abandoned borewell since June 6, was retrieved by the rescuers of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
The child fell into the unused borewell in a field when he was playing near his house. The seven-inch-wide borewell was covered with a cloth and the boy accidentally stepped on it.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh expressed grief over the death of the child. He said he has also sought report within 24 hours from all District Collectors regarding any open borewell so that such terrible accidents can be prevented in the future.
Very sad to hear about the tragic death of young Fatehveer. I pray that Waheguru grants his family the strength to bear this huge loss. Have sought reports from all DCs regarding any open bore well so that such terrible accidents can be prevented in the future.
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) June 11, 2019
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal had on Monday held the CM responsible for the tardy and unprofessional rescue operation undertaken by his government to rescue Fatehveer.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament Bhagwant Mann also expressed his dismay and deep shock over the tardy operation to rescue Fatehveer and accused the rescue teams of having failed to bring out the trapped infant to safety even as more than 94 hours had rolled by since the operation took off.