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Massive effort to save toddler who fell down a well


Massive rescue efforts are underway to rescue a toddler trapped down a well for almost two weeks.

There has been no contact with Julen Rosello, 2, who fell into the 110-metre deep shaft on January 13 in the countryside northeast of Malaga, Spain.

The only sign of the toddler that search-and-rescue teams have found so far is hair that matched his DNA inside the hole. This was found on January 17.

Julen’s parents, who reportedly lost another young son in 2017, have said the family had no doubt that the boy fell into the borehole after walking away from his parents, who were preparing a countryside lunch.

Julen Rosello, 2, has been trapped in a well in Malaga, Spain since January 13. Source: Facebook/ Jose Rosello
Julen Rosello, 2, has been trapped in a well in Malaga, Spain since January 13. Source: Facebook/ Jose Rosello

Adults can’t enter the waterhole, which has a diameter narrower than 25 centimetres.

The boy’s father Jose said that he and his wife were “heartbroken” by the long wait to rescue him.

“It feels like we have been waiting for months,” he told reporters last week.

“We are not going to give up… We have the hope that an angel is going to show up for my son to come out alive.”

A map of the operation to rescue Julen. A shaft is being dug parallel to the borehole. Once it’s deep enough a tunnel will be dug horizontally to reach the toddler. Source: Getty Images
A map of the operation to rescue Julen. A shaft is being dug parallel to the borehole. Once it’s deep enough a tunnel will be dug horizontally to reach the toddler. Source: Getty Images

He told the local newspaper Sur he heard his son’s cries as soon as he fell and rushed over to the hole.

“I wish it were impossible for him to be down there, but I heard him,” he told the paper.

“I wish it were me buried down there so that he could be up here with his mother.”

Spanish media have reported that the couple, who lives in a coastal suburb near Malaga, lost another son in 2017.

Julen’s elder brother, Oliver, was 3 when he suffered a heart attack during a family walk on their local beach.

A rescuer shows how narrow the hole is. It’s diameter is narrower than 25 centimetres. Source: Malaga Fire Department
A rescuer shows how narrow the hole is. It’s diameter is narrower than 25 centimetres. Source: Malaga Fire Department

Rescue efforts hampered

The rescue effort has been slowed after authorities on Monday said a drill used to create a vertical shaft parallel to the waterhole has hit patches of increasingly hard rock.

“We are working through material that is becoming harder and harder, and that is why the drilling operation to make the shaft is being held up,” Angel Garcia, the leading engineer coordinating the search-and-rescue operation, said.

Cranes and diggers are pictured at the site where Julen fell. Source: Getty Images
Cranes and diggers are pictured at the site where Julen fell. Source: Getty Images

Rescuers hope to find Julen at a depth of 72 metres, where soil has blocked the borehole.

A specially-made cage has arrived at the site, ready to lower mining rescue experts down the shaft once drilling is complete. The experts will then start digging a horizontal tunnel to the spot where they believe the boy is trapped in the borehole.

Digging began on Friday and Mr Garcia added the work was “extremely difficult”.

Julen’s father Jose weeps at a press conference. Source: Getty Images
Julen’s father Jose weeps at a press conference. Source: Getty Images

On Tuesday, authorities said they need more time to widen the shaft they have dug.

Spain’s Civil Guard said it is investigating whether the borehole was drilled illegally.

The Civil Guard’s press office did not elaborate on the investigation. Spanish media, including newspaper El Pais, said that the borehole made to search for water lacked proper authorisation.

With Associated Press

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Residents gather to offer support in the hopes the toddler is found alive. Source: Getty Images
Residents gather to offer support in the hopes the toddler is found alive. Source: Getty Images