Vietnam’s prime minister has ordered the country’s military and emergency services to make all necessary resources available in an effort to save a 10-year-old boy who fell into a narrow shaft at a construction site.
Rescuers have been racing to reach the boy since Saturday morning when he fell into a 35-metre hollow pillar buried deep in the ground.
They have pumped oxygen down the hole but are concerned for the boy’s wellbeing as he stopped responding to those above the surface.
Thai Ly Hao Nam, from the southern Dong Thap province, accidentally fell into the shaft before noon on New Year’s Eve when he and three friends came to the Roc Sen Bridge construction site to collect scrap iron, according to Tuoi Tre News, a local newspaper.
The boy lost his footing and dropped into the pillar while walking on the uneven construction site, the newspaper reported. The top of the pillar was uncovered.
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Witnesses said the child cried for help for around ten minutes after the fall, but rescuers received no response from him today when they lowered a camera down to locate his position in the pillar.
“I cannot understand how he fell into the hollow concrete pile, which has a diameter of only 25 cm,” said Le Hoang Bao, director of Dong Thap province’s Department of Transport.
Rescue work began at noon on Saturday, when hundreds of responders, including firefighters and police were dispatched to the scene along with rescue equipment such as excavators, cranes and augers, according to Vietnam Net, a news site.
“We are trying our best. We cannot tell the boy’s condition yet,” a rescuer who identified himself as Sau said.
Cylinders of oxygen were brought in to help the boy breathe, and water was lowered to him. In a troubling sign, the boy didn’t appear to have used the water, the news site reported.
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Efforts to lift the pile with cranes and excavators failed, and a plan to drop ropes to lift the boy was deemed unfeasible because the pipe was too narrow.
Today, Pham Minh Chinh, the prime minister, ordered the rescue be completed as soon as possible and without incident, Tuoi Tre News reported.
Local authorities were seen trying to loosen the soil around the pillar today, while military engineers were dispatched to the site to support the rescue efforts.
The prime minister also demanded the Roc Sen Bridge project be inspected and the developers punished if any safety violations were found. He told local authorities across the country to enhance inspections of construction projects to prevent similar accidents .
