HOSHIARPUR, MAY 16— Emergency crews successfully completed a high-stakes rescue operation in Chak Samana village early Saturday, recovering a 4-year-old boy who spent more than nine hours trapped inside an unfinished borewell shaft.
Gurkaran Singh accidentally slipped into the open, gravel-deficient cavity near his home at around 4 p.m. on Friday. A combined force of municipal workers, police, and specialized disaster response units worked through the night, ultimately pulling the muddy but stable toddler to safety shortly after midnight.
“The administration swung into action immediately after receiving information about the incident,” stated Deputy Commissioner Ashika Jain, explaining that the newly commissioned borewell had not yet been fully filled or secured.
Technical teams initially established an immediate lifeline by lowering oxygen equipment into the dark shaft. However, the operation grew increasingly complex when shifting topsoil began collapsing into the hole, cutting off the vital video feed that engineers were using to track the boy’s movements.
To circumvent the blockage, engineering teams redirected heavy machinery provided by the administration and local villagers to dig an adjacent recovery trench. Workers carefully carved out a narrow connecting tunnel once the parallel shaft reached the 30-foot mark, allowing an NDRF specialist to reach the child and carry him out to waiting medical personnel.
The operation drew significant oversight from regional representatives, with Punjab Minister Ravjot Singh and AAP MP Raj Kumar Chabbewal remaining on-site to monitor the engineering progression.
Relieved family members and local residents gathered at the site to embrace the rescue workers as the operation concluded. NDRF Deputy Commandant Pankaj Sharma stated that despite the structural vulnerabilities of the soft earth, the systematic approach of the combined forces prevented a secondary collapse and ensured the child’s survival.
