Frantic search for Spanish toddler who fell into well

Channelnewsasia: Rescuers in Spain are searching for a two-year-old boy who fell into a 100m-deep well in southern Spain, in a race against time that has gripped the country.
The boy, Julen, went missing on Sunday (Jan 13) during a family trip to a relative’s farm in the mountains, Spanish daily El Pais reported. The two-year-old apparently fell into a 25cm-wide bore hole, the report said, adding that relatives at the scene said no one was able to stop the fall. Firefighters have so far only found a bag of sweets in the well that the child was carrying when he went missing, said Maria Gamez, Spain’s government representative in Malaga province.
“It’s cold, humid, its not easy to carry out a search there … Nobody is prepared technically to rescue a body from such a narrow space,” she added.
Rescuers are trying to avoid blocking the well with falling soil as they search for the boy, Gamez said.
Two cameras lowered into the well had failed to capture any trace of him.
The well had been bored a month earlier during water prospection works and was not covered or protected, according to local media reports.
The boy’s parents are “devastated” and are receiving counselling from a team of psychologists, Elena Trigo, a spokeswoman for emergency services in the southwestern region of Andalusia, told public radio RNE.
The rescue operation will continue until he is found, she added.
Rescue teams were reportedly considering digging a hole parallel to the one the youngster fell down to try to reach him.
The incident is the second tragedy to hit Julen’s parents, after another son died less than two years ago, locals of the El Palo neighbourhood where the family lives told El Pais.
José and Victoria’s three-year-old son Óliver died suddenly in the spring of 2017, the report said, adding that Óliver had been walking with his parents across a beach when he died.
Spanish television and radio stations followed the search operation closely and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Twitter that he shared “the anguish” of the boy’s family.
“All my support for the parents and the emergency teams who are participating in the rescue. We continue to hope for the best outcome,” he added.