Little Indian Prince Escapes From Being Trapped Down a Well
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
NEW DELHI, India — Indian army engineers yesterday rescued a 6-year-old boy who spent 50 hours trapped at the bottom of a 60-foot well.
The child, who is known by only one name, Prince, emerged in the arms of a soldier to the cheers of thousands of onlookers who had been camped since Friday around the well in Kurukshetra, 90 miles north of Delhi.
The dazed boy, who turned 6 yesterday, was undergoing medical examinations last night.
Villagers said construction workers had left a partially constructed well shaft temporarily covered with sacking. The child accidentally stepped on it while playing with friends and slithered down the narrow shaft.
He escaped injury as he landed on soft sand at the bottom of the pit. However, as the shaft was a mere 16 inches in diameter, he could only wait as military engineers sank a shaft parallel to the one in which he was trapped and dug a connecting passageway.
Monsoon rains slowed the rescue efforts, fueling concern that the sandy soil could be dislodged in the final stages of the operation, putting the child’s life at risk.
Rescue teams passed biscuits, chocolates, and bottles of glucose drink down the shaft and monitored the boy on closed-circuit television.
Oxygen also was pumped into the pit to sustain the child and his parents spoke to him frequently, telling him help was on its way.
Prince’s ordeal dominated news channels all day and captivated the viewing nation. Special prayers for the boy were held in Hindu temples, Muslim mosques, Christian churches, and Sikh places of worship across India.
