Vietnam rescuers race to free boy stuck in building shaft
January 2, 2023
Hundreds of rescuers were on the scene at a Vietnamese construction site on Monday, trying to free a 10-year-old boy who fell down a massive hole in the southern Dong Thap province nearly two days earlier.
Thai Ly Hao Nam became trapped in the 35-meter (115-foot) hole on New Year's Eve. The hole is only 25 centimeters (10 inches) wide.
"We are trying our best. We cannot tell the boy's condition yet," an emergency worker told the French news agency AFP.
The boy was heard crying shortly after his fall, but authorities are now "not sure about the current condition" after he stopped interacting with rescuers. Oxygen continues to be pumped into the hole, according to local media.
National rescue services called in
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked federal-level rescuers to join efforts led by local authorities to save Nam.
Currently, emergency responders are trying to drill next to the hole and soften the earth in the hopes they can pull up the pillar blocking Nam's escape. However, this has made the pillar tilt slightly, complicating the procedure.
Efforts to lift the pillar with cranes and excavators have so far failed, and rescuers have been unable to determine the boy's exact position.
Local media reported that Nam and his friends had been looking for scrap metal at the bridge construction site near the Mekong River.
es/fb (AFP, Reuters)