Moroccans waited anxiously on Friday as authorities said a dramatic operation to rescue a young boy trapped in a deep well for more than days was nearing its end.
The 5-year-old, named Rayan, fell down the narrow 32m deep well on Wednesday in his home village near Bab Berred in the rural Northern Province of Chefchaouen, local media said.
"The child's rescue is approaching," government spokesman Mustapha Baitas said Friday. "Our hearts are with the family, and we are praying that he will back with them as soon as possible."
The shaft was too narrow for rescuers to reach the bottom, so heavy diggers were dispatched to dig a hole alongside it.
Relief operations intensified as darkness fell for a third night with the boy deep down in the well, with diggers clawing out dirt under floodlights.
