Rescuers desperately try to reach five year old who fell down well

Rescuers have dug a huge hole next to the well (front, centre)

Rescuers who are desperately trying to reach a five-year-old boy who fell into a well in northern Morocco four days ago say they are "almost there".

The boy, named by local media as Rayan, was reportedly playing near the well in the town of Tamorot, 100km (62 miles) from Chefchaouen on Tuesday.

He is believed to have fallen about 32m (104ft) through a narrow opening.

After days of digging there are just three metres to go, but there is the risk of a landslide.

So as a precaution, a "parallel shaft" is being dug next to the well to reach Rayan which is so far proving successful, says Moroccan government spokesman Mustapha Baitas.

"We're almost there," said one of the operation's leaders Abdesalam Makoudi on Friday afternoon. "We've been working non-stop for three days and tiredness is kicking in, but the whole rescue team is hanging on."

Rescue operations, led by Morocco's Civil Protection Directorate, have been ongoing since Tuesday evening, even using floodlights to work through the night.

'I haven't slept a wink'

Rayan's father was repairing the well at the time of the accident, and has said he and Rayan's mother are "devastated and very worried".

"In that one moment I took my eyes off him, the little one fell into the well. I haven't slept a wink", he told news site le360 on Wednesday.

Speaking to Moroccan media with tears in her eyes, Rayan's mother said "the whole family went out to look for him. Then we realised that he'd fallen down the well. I'm still keeping up hope that we'll get him out alive."

Despite suffering a significant fall, footage on Thursday from a camera lowered into the well showed that the boy was alive and conscious, though he appeared to be suffering from some minor head injuries.

Rescue workers have lowered an oxygen mask, food and water into the well and a medical team is also on site, ready to treat the boy. A helicopter has also arrived at the scene to take him to hospital once he has been extracted from the well.

Thousands of people have been watching footage of the rescue on social media, and a large group of onlookers has gathered at the scene.

Algerian football star Riyad Mahrez has also posted a message of support, urging Rayan to "stay strong".

Local media reported that provincial authorities are overseeing rescue attempts and that dozens of police, auxiliary forces, Royal Gendarmerie and civil protection officers are now involved in the operation.

Mohamed Yassin El Quahabi, president of the Chefchaouen Association of Caving and Mountain Activities, has been helping with the rescue and told the BBC that the narrowness of the well had hampered rescue efforts.

He added that several attempts by local volunteers and rescue workers to gain access through the well's opening have already failed.

"The problem of this rescue is that the hole diameter is very, very small, about 25cm (9.8 inches)," Mr El Quahabi said. "At the depth of 28 metres it became smaller so we couldn't reach him."

One of the rescue team explained "the closer we get, the hole gets narrow and hard to pass through - which makes it very hard to save the child through volunteers. That's why we had to come up with another technique - which is digging.''

Pictures from the scene show five bulldozers digging a large area parallel to the well's outer shaft to try and work around the narrow structure.

Mr El Quahabi told the BBC that this was now the only way rescue workers will be able to reach Rayan.

But authorities remain concerned that any interference with the well could accidentally hurt the five-year-old by triggering a landslide.

The Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan has been trending across the region, including in neighbouring Algeria, despite the two countries' poor relations.

Source: BBC