On 13 January 2019, during a family picnic in the village of Totalán in southern Spain, José and Victoria were preparing lunch, while their 2-year-old son, Julen, was playing nearby. Tragedy struck when the toddler fell into a well, or rather, slipped into a hole, more than 30 storeys deep.
The helpless parents heard their child's echoing cries as he plunged into darkness. They can no longer hear him.
Rescuers are now frantically trying to find the little boy. So far, they have only managed to recover a bag of candy and a plastic cup the child had been holding when he fell.
On 16 Jan 2019, they finally managed to find hair inside a 100 m borehole. DNA tests have confirmed that it belongs to the child.
All the parents can hope for now, is a miracle.
Toddler fell into a well: Rescuers racing against time
"We are clinging to the hope that he isn't dead", says the boy's heartbroken father.
This is the second time Fate has tested the family. Their first son, Oliver, apparently died of a congenital heart condition at the age of three.
Rescuers are now racing against time to locate and save the child. The hair was found among debris retrieved from the well.
"It gives us a degree of certainty that the child is there, in that well," local official Gómez de Celis has been quoted as saying.
But, the question remains - Is it too late already?
The well was apparently bored in December to find groundwater, but was not covered or protected.
The big problem the rescuers are facing is that, the hole is just 25 cm in diameter, making the mission difficult and dangerous. Care should also be taken to not loosen the earth, in case it falls on the child.
Horizontal and vertical tunnels are being dug to intersect at the spot where Julen is believed to have fallen.
A Swedish team of experts has been asked to assist with the rescue. Specialist mining crews from northern Spain have also been called in...
The case has sparked international attention.
A similar incident happened in 1987, when 18-month-old Jessica McClure fell down a well in Texas and remained trapped there for 58 hours. She was thankfully healthy when rescued.
Parallels have also been drawn with the Thai rescue operation in July 2018, when 12 Thai boys and their football coach were rescued from flooded underground caves, after being trapped there for two weeks.
We hope and pray that this little child gets rescued soon.
(Source: The Washington Post, BBC)
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