Boy Trapped in Well Passes Away After Grueling 4-Day Rescue Operation

A 5-year-old boy in Morocco who was trapped in a well since Tuesday has died, news outlets reported Saturday.

Rescue workers had extracted the boy, whose name was Rayan, from the well, which was 105 foot deep. But the Morocco's royal palace said in a statement that he had died, Al Arabiya reported.

The Saudi Gazette also reported Saturday that an official report from the Moroccan diwan "confirmed young Rayan has passed away."

On Tuesday, Rayan's father, Khalid Agoram, was searching for his son when he found he had fallen down the well.

Rescuers had worked carefully for days to extract Rayan from the well, and faced the concern of potentially triggering a landslide with their efforts.

Officials had attached a mobile phone to a rope and lowered it down to monitor Rayan and his surroundings, as well as communicate with him, the Middle East Eye reported earlier this week. Ropes had also been used to bring the boy oxygen and water, according to the Associated Press.

Before it was clear the boy had died, the head of the rescue effort, Abdelhadi Temrani, said Saturday that it was "not possible to determine the child's condition at all at this time."

"But we hope to God that the child is alive," he added, according to the AP.

Rescue workers operating bulldozers had been digging parallel to the well for days to save the boy, and as of Friday had reached about 100 feet deep. They were about to start excavating a horizontal tunnel to reach him, when they briefly stopped over concerns that the ground could collapse.

However, late on Saturday, they were able to reach Rayan and bring his body to an ambulance.

The Moroccan royal palace's statement said that Moroccan King Mohammed VI had been "instructing officials to use all means necessary to dig the boy out of the well and return him alive to his parents."

The rescue operation in Morocco's Chefchaouen province attracted hundreds to its site, and captured the attention of those across the globe via social media.

"I am so sad to learn Rayan has died. Sincere condolences to the parents," Abderrahim Sabihi, of Rabat, Morocco, who had been following the rescue from a café, told Reuters.