BAGALKOT: Six-year-old boy Thimmanna Hatti, who fell into a borewell in Sulikeri near Bagalkot, is feared dead as foul smell has begun emanating from the hole, district medical officer B D Kittur said on Wednesday.
“The foul smell emanating from the borewell is a sign of decomposition of Thimmanna’s body. He appears to have succumbed due to asphyxia,” Kittur told reporters even as rescue efforts continued for the fourth day.
“We will not be able to confirm if Thimmanna is alive or dead till we pull him out of the borewell though we fear the worst,” district surgeon Ananthram Reddy clarified.
A tunnel is being dug laterally to the borewell to gain access to the boy. Officials said rain and mud, which had fallen on the child, hampered rescue operations.
Manikanthan, a robotic expert from Tamil Nadu who arrived in Sulikeri on Tuesday night, lowered the robot to around 100 feet but failed to reach the child.
Hutti Gold Mines, Helpline and others in the rescue team deployed JCBs but Thimmanna’s family has given up all hope of seeing the child alive.
Meanwhile, the district surgeon told Express that Thimmanna’s father Hanamant Hatti, who was admitted to hospital for dehydration on Tuesday, is recovering. “He is stable and is likely to be discharged in the next 24 hours.”
Hanamant had on Tuesday appealed to the rescuers to stop their operations because he fears his seven-acre land — his only source of livelihood — will be completely destroyed if the rescue operation continues.
S R Patil, district-in-charge minister, who has been monitoring the rescue operation, told reporters that due to the wet soil, Manikanthan’s operation did not yield any result, and steps are being taken to bring in more powerful soil-sucking machines.