Algerian boy trapped in well for days found dead

ALGIERS - Rescuers in Algeria on Sept 5 recovered the body of a 10-year-old boy who was trapped inside a well for four days, civil protection authorities said.Efforts to rescue the boy, whom authorities identified only by his first name, Ayoub, had drawn widespread attention across the country, and social media was awash with calls to save him.On the evening of Sept 5, however, the civil protection announced that “the child was found and recovered dead”.Teams had been working to reach Ayoub after he fell into an 80m-deep well near his home in the desert municipality of Brezina in El Bayadh province, some 550km south of Algiers.The civil protection said the well was dry and dug using traditional methods. It was only 40cm in diameter, which made efforts to rescue the boy difficult.While the operations were still ongoing, rescuers said they had been struggling to reach him because he was “trapped beneath a thick layer of soil”.Images released by authorities and local media showed heavy machinery digging a large pit alongside the well in an attempt to reach the boy. AFP