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Five-year-old boy rescued from 50-ft pit
Published on Sun, Jul 23, 2006 at 19:38, Updated on Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 12:48 in 
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Shahbad (Haryana): After an agonising wait of more than two days five-year-old Prince has been rescued on Sunday evening from the bottom of a 53 feet and 1.5 wide shaft in Shahbad, Haryana.
Prince, who turned six on during the ordeal, had fallen into the deep, narrow shaft that was left uncovered by workers in Haldheri village on Friday evening while he was playing near it.
The shaft had been dug for a submersible tube well.
Experts from the 65 Engineer Regiment of the Army’s Ambala-based 2 Corps supervised the rescue operation.
Major General Gautam Banerjee, who oversaw the operation, said the biggest challenge was managing the large crowds at the site, which triggered fears of the earth caving in. "It was actually a collective effort, we tried our best and our effort succeeded," Banerjee said.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the civil and police administration helped the Army team along with experts from the fire service and air force.
Army personnel dug a 56-feet deep, 15-feet wide parallel tunnel from a dried up well alongside the shaft to rescue Prince after almost 50 hours
A soldier finally reached Prince a little before 1900 hrs IST. The tunnel was then widened so that the boy could be pulled to safety.
The rescuer first provided the kid with food and glucose and a doctor examined him before he was brought up.
A doctor said Prince might need counseling to overcome the trauma of being trapped in a pit for so long, but pictures beamed by CCTV cameras showed his condition improved as the rescuers boosted his morale.
People cheered loudly and applauded as a crane hoisted the boy, wrapped in a white sheet and cradled by a soldier, from the depths of the shaft.
Prince looked dazed but did not appear to be in any pain as a soldier handed him over to his mother Karamjit, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks.
She and his father Ram Chander had been sitting at the site for the past two days, offering prayers for his well-being with a diya (earthern lamp) by their side.
Karamjit briefly hugged Prince before Army officials put him into a waiting ambulance and sent for a medical check-up.
Officials said Prince displayed "tremendous survival instincts" by remaining calm in the pit, something that also made the task of the rescuers easier.
His ordeal sparked spontaneous outpourings of sympathy in many cities.
In Ahmedabad, citizens organised prayers and celebrated Prince's birthday by cutting cakes while a group of people placed a chadar (a big open cloth) at the Dargah (grave of a revered religious figure) of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer.
In Patna, people thronged temples and organised puja for the safe rescue of Prince.
People SMSed messages to TV news channels that extensively covered the rescue operation. The Sikh community started a langar (community kitchen) to offer food to rescuers and other people at the site.
Across the country, people of all faiths prayed for the boy, who was shown in the CCTV footage resting in the shaft, eating chocolates and biscuits lowered to him in a bucket and occasionally crying in desperation.
Oxygen was supplied into the shaft through a pipe and water was also lowered to the boy.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed happiness at the rescue of Prince and offered "full medical care" to him.
Singh sent his best wishes to Prince and his family a PMO spokesman said shortly after the boy was lifted out from the shaft.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhoopinder Singh Hooda, who was present at the site, too announced a payment of Rs 2 lakh to the boy.
Earlier, heavy rains hampered rescue efforts even as thousands of onlookers kept vigil at the site, praying for the safe rescue of Prince.
Rescuers monitored Prince's condition using a closed circuit TV system that also allowed him to talk to people on the surface. Food and water was also lowered to the boy.
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