Sujith Wilson, Tamil Nadu Toddler Trapped In An Abandoned Borewell For Over 75 Hours Declared Dead, Body Taken Out 

The body of the 2-year-old boy Sujith Wilson trapped in an abandoned borewell in Nadukattupatti village in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli district was taken out on early Tuesday after over 80-hours of rescue efforts.

Sujay was playing in front of his house when he is said to have slipped and fell into a seven-year-old borewell hole at around 5.30 p.m.

The boy was initially trapped at 30 feet and rescue efforts began soon after that. Later that night, he fell further down to about 90 feet.

Speaking to reporters in the wee hours of Tuesday, J. Radhakrishnan, Principal Secretary, Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and Mitigation department said bad foul started emanating from the borewell and the medical teams also confirmed the death.

In a press meet held outside Sujith’s residence, Radhakrishnan said that all efforts to bring the child alive had been done, but now in an unfortunate turn of event, bad smell has started to come from the borewell in which the child had fallen.

The body that started decomposing was taken out and sent for postmortem.

According to officials, the borwell, and also the hole drilled near it to rescue the boy, will be closed soon.

Massive efforts were mounted to rescue Sujith.

Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar was present from the time rescue mission began and personally monitored it. The rescue efforts were led by officials from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited along with the National National Disaster Response Force.

Initially, earthmoving equipment was pressed into service to dig a pit near the borewell to reach the boy. But, it was stopped midway as the terrain was rocky. Besides, it was felt that this process could cause vibrations that may loosen the soil inside the borewell, thereby slipping the boy further down.

A heavy German-made drilling machine was also deployed to dig a parallel shaft to reach the boy stuck at a depth of 88 feet, but rescue efforts were hampered by rocky soil and rain.

Later, the rescue team used a special equipment 'borewell robot'. But that too was not successful.

Prayers were held by various sections of society for the child’s early rescue, while leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi wished the wellbeing of the child.