MP: 7-Year-Old Boy Who Fell Into 60-Feet Borewell Dies After 24-Hour Rescue Mission

New Delhi: The 7-year-old boy who had fallen into a 60-foot-deep borewell in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district, unfortunately, died on Wednesday (March 15). The child was rescued almost 24 hours after he fell inside but could not be saved. "Doctors declared him dead after examination," Vidisha Collector Uma Shankar Bhargava told reporters as quoted by PTI.

The boy fell into the 60-foot-deep borewell on Tuesday around 11 am and was stuck at a depth of 43 feet. Rescue operations were ongoing since Tuesday and a parallel pit was dug with JCB machines to save the child. But the boy was declared dead by doctors at a government hospital in Lateri town.

7 year old child had fallen in Lokesh borewell! 24 hour rescue operation by NDRF & SDRF took the child out of the borewell! but tragic hospital child died pic.twitter.com/jsIruOijxq — Kalu Singh Chouhan (@kscChouhan) March 15, 2023

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of the deceased as per the collector.

How did he fall inside?

The boy identified as Lokesh Ahirwar was playing when he accidentally fell into the narrow hole at Kherkhedi Pathar village under Lateri tehsil in the district, the official said as quoted by PTI. The villagers soon alerted the authorities and an extensive rescue operation began to save the child. An oxygen pipe was lowered into the borewell and the rescuers were able to observe the boy while he was trapped through a night-vision device. 

A similar case was reported in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district when a 5-year-old boy fell into a borewell on Tuesday. But he too was declared dead and couldn't be saved. The incidence of borewell-related deaths among children is a concerning issue.