RAMANATHAPURAM: After nearly eight hours of rescue efforts, the body of a 12-year-old boy from South Mallal who was trapped in a well at a depth of around 20 feet beneath the ground was recovered in the wee hours of Friday. The boy, N Suganesh was a class VIII student and was taking bath with a group of friends next to the well, situated on the banks of a pond at South Mallal village near Uthirakosamangai on Thursday, local sources said.
Around 5 pm, the concrete platform surrounding the well on which he stood caved in and the boy fell into the well, said District Fire Officer (in-charge) I Raju.Hearing his cries, the residents tried to pull him out of the pit from about six-feet-depth using a rope but, the ground caved pushing him to 20-feet- depth, he said.
“The eight-hour rescue mission by the Fire and Rescue Services personnel that commenced around 6 pm turned challenging due to heavy downpour late at night. Despite the best of efforts to save the boy alive, only his body could be retrieved around 2 am on Friday,” Raju told TNIE. The boy had died immediately due to suffocation as heavy concrete debris fell over him, he added