Borewell tragedy: rescue work fails, Sonu dead | Pics

BATTLE LOST: Sonu fell into a 150-foot-deep borewell at around 0945 hrs IST on Thursday.

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Agra: The rescue operation launched to rescue two-year old Sonu, who had fallen into an open borewell on Thursday in Agra, failed to bring him out alive.

The four-day long rescue effort was finally over on Monday at about 1120 hrs IST when the Army team finally managed to reach the trapped child after digging a horizontal shaft parallel to the borewell to reach out to him and rescue him.

However, Sonu could not survive the ordeal. He was immediately rushed to the SN Medical College Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Principal of SN Medical College, Dr S C Prajapati confirmed that there were no signs of life in Sonu.

Dr Prajapati said that the exact cause of death would be determined only after a post-mortem had been conducted.

Doctors had warned earlier that his chances of survival were minimal. There had been no movement or sound heard from him two hours after he fell into the well.

Lieutenant Colonel Kuljinder Singh, officer incharge of Sonu's rescue operation, said the boy had already died when the rescue team reached him.

"We have taken out the body, but in medical terms the body is decomposing by now I think. The child is no more. He was not able to survive the ordeal. We dug a 74-foot pit parallel to the borewell to bring the child out," Lt Col Singh said.

The rescue operation had been the largest of its kind undertaken anywhere in the country. However, rescue work was hampered after the parallel pit collapsed twice.

Riot control units of the Uttar Pradesh Police are on standby to maintain law and order, in case there is a backlash from the locals.

Sonu fell into a 150-foot-deep borewell at around 0945 hrs IST on Thursday while playing outside his house in Lehrakapura village near Shamsabad town, 26 km from Agra.

The borewell was dug up some two-three months ago but was abandoned.

Meanwhile, President Pratibha Patil has condoned Sonu's death and has issued an advisory to some ministries to prevent a repeat of this tragedy. She has issued the advisory to the Ministries of Rural and Urban Development, Water Resources and Home Affairs to prescribe necessary safety standards to local agencies.

According to the advisory, Ministries must instruct agencies to take precautions while digging borewells. The ministries in question must also instruct filed formations to strictly comply with this safety advisory.