A five-year-old boy, Zainullah, has been rescued from a deep abandoned well in Afghanistan after spending about two days trapped underground in a frightening ordeal that required the assistance of an 11-year-old boy.
Zainullah fell into a narrow, dried-up well while playing with friends in Kandahar Province, southern Afghanistan. The shaft was approximately 70 metres deep and only about 30 centimetres wide, making it extremely difficult for adult rescuers to reach him.
Despite surviving the fall, the young boy faced cold, damp conditions, with water reaching his feet and dripping onto him as he remained trapped at the bottom.
Rescuers lowered a camera into the well to monitor his condition. However, their attempts to bring him to safety proved difficult because the opening was too narrow for an adult to descend and Zainullah was reportedly too frightened to understand how to secure himself to a rescue rope.
11-Year-Old Joins Dangerous Rescue Mission
After several attempts failed, rescuers sought help from Hazrat Omar, an 11-year-old boy who reportedly had experience with a previous underground rescue.
With his uncle’s consent, Hazrat agreed to enter the well despite concerns from adults about the risks involved.
His first attempt was unsuccessful after his shoulder and thigh became trapped in the narrow shaft. He recalled shouting that he was hurt before rescuers pulled him back to the surface.
The rescuers tried again, and on the second attempt, Hazrat reached the bottom of the well.
With the young rescuer and Zainullah positioned for extraction, people gathered around the opening and gradually pulled the rope upwards. Both boys were eventually brought out, ending the tense rescue operation.
Abandoned Wells Pose Growing Danger
The incident highlights a wider safety problem in Afghanistan, where the search for water has led to the drilling of hundreds of thousands of deep borewells.
Many of these wells are narrow, difficult to identify and potentially dangerous when abandoned.
The well into which Zainullah fell had reportedly been dry for two years. Farmers who drilled it had covered the opening with wood and soil, but the materials deteriorated over time, leaving the shaft vulnerable.
Such abandoned wells can become deadly hazards for children and other people moving through farmland, particularly where openings are concealed by loose soil or damaged covers.
The rescue has drawn attention to the need for abandoned wells to be properly sealed or filled to prevent similar incidents.
Zainullah’s survival and the involvement of Hazrat Omar brought a positive outcome to a dangerous emergency, but the wider problem of unsafe wells remains a serious concern for communities across Afghanistan.
BBC
