The child's mother is seated in one of the three ambulances at the scene so that the child could be rushed to the nearest hospital once he is rescued.
Rescuers have been working non-stop for more than 12 hours to bring the boy back from the well. (Screengrab)
Rescue workers are racing non-stop against time to bring back a toddler, who accidentally fell into an open borewell on his grandfather’s farmland in Karnataka’s Vijayapura.
Authorities on Thursday, 4 April, said the operation was nearing the final stage. The child’s mother was seated in one of the three ambulances at the scene so that the child could be rushed to the nearest hospital once he was picked up from the well.
The state has been waiting with bated breath and prayers for more than 12 hours even as earthmovers frantically kept digging a tunnel next to the borewell throughout the night to reach the trapped boy. Initial reports suggested he was two-years-old but rescue personnel have confirmed the age of the toddler as 14 months old.
Authorities plan a five-foot tunnel to reach the child after the fresh pit reaches parallel to the spot where he has been trapped.
The child, identified as Sathwik Mujagonda, fell into the 20-foot borewell while playing at Lachayan village around 6 pm on Wednesday, 3 April. The rescue operations commenced soon after the authorities were alerted of the incident.
The State Disaster Response Force, fire and rescue personnel, police, and tube-well drilling experts at the scene remained optimistic of rescuing the boy.
Authorities have arranged a non-stop oxygen supply for the child.
Earlier, Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries and in-charge Vijayapura MB Patil directed the district administration to immediately take necessary action to rescue the toddler.
As soon as the local authorities were alerted about the incident, the Indi taluka, revenue officials, police personnel and fire fighters rushed to the spot.
#Karnataka: Two-year-old boy accidentally falls into an open borewell at Lachayan village in Indi taluk of Vijayapura district.
The toddler is identified as Sathwik Mujagonda.
Police and Fire & Emergency service personnel have launched a rescue operation. More details awaited pic.twitter.com/ckOcf28vYB
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) April 3, 2024
Indi Assistant Commissioner Abid Gadyal told reporters: “The incident occurred around 6pm. As soon as we received an alert, we sent the police, fire fighters, revenue and other officials to the spot.”
“The doctors have also been summoned, where they are ensuring oxygen supply into the well. The well is said to be around 20 feet deep. The fire fighters are parallelly digging up the area with the help of earth movers,” AC Gadyal said.
Expressing shock over the incident, Minister Patil directed the district officials to take necessary measures to rescue the toddler.
In his post on X, Patil stated that he has issued directions to the Vijayapura district administration to carry out a rescue operation at a rapid pace.
ಇಂಡಿ: ಕೊಳವೆ ಬಾವಿಗೆ ಬಿದ್ದ ಮಗು; ಸಮರೋಪಾದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ರಕ್ಷಣಾ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳುವಂತೆ ಸೂಚನೆ
ವಿಜಯಪುರ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಇಂಡಿ ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕಿನ ಲಚ್ಯಾಣ ಗ್ರಾಮದಲ್ಲಿ 2ವರ್ಷದ ಮಗುವೊಂದು ಕೊಳವೆ ಬಾವಿಗೆ ಬಿದ್ದ ಘಟನೆ ನನ್ನ ಮನಕಲುಕಿದೆ. ಮಗುವನ್ನು ರಕ್ಷಿಸಲು ಕ್ಷಿಪ್ರ ಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಾಚರಣೆ ನಡೆಸುವಂತೆ ಜಿಲ್ಲಾಡಳಿತಕ್ಕೆ ಸೂಚಿಸಿದ್ದು ಆ ಬಗ್ಗೆ… pic.twitter.com/MpmJGyw1t0— M B Patil (@MBPatil) April 3, 2024
“I am getting minute-to-minute updates from the district administration. I pray that the child may be safely be reunited with the parents,” said Patil.
(Edited by Shauqueen Mizaj)
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