Military joins mission to save 10-year-old boy from 35-meter-deep hole

Rescuers gather at the site of where a 10-year-old boy is thought to be trapped in a 35-meter deep shaft at a bridge construction area in Vietnam’s Dong Thap Province on January 2, 2023. Photo by AFP

Geological exploration camera that can goes 500 meter underground has also been used to locate the boy, who fell into the pillar at a construction site at around noon Saturday.

The Transport Department of the southern province of Dong Thap, which has been executing the rescue, said Monday afternoon that the tool, used in drilling wells, has been sent to the site to be operated by four engineers.

The camera can see in darkness and its images can suggest suitable rescue measures. However, it won’t be able to tell if the boy is alive.

At noon on Saturday, the boy Thai Ly Hao Nam and three of his neighbors went to a bridge construction site on Provincial Road 857 in Phu Loi Commune to get some pieces of iron. The 10-year-old boy was walking when he fell into the hollow concrete pillar that was 25 centimeters in diameter and about 35 meters deep, where he was trapped.

A firefighting officer in HCMC, whose unit used to rescue people from hundreds of meters underground, said the boy’s case is “very complicated” as he’s stuck in a pillar that is too narrow for any rescuer to climb into.

“The only solution is to pull the pillar up.”

Pulling up the pillar, which has one close end underground, was also the solution chosen by the rescue forces at the site.

 

 

Military joins mission to save 10-year-old boy from 35-meter-deep hole

Khoảnh khắc bé trai lọt xuống trụ bêtông

Drilling has been conducted to soften the soil around the pillar, but it had to be done with caution to prevent the pillar from leaning or breaking and endangering the boy.

Le Hoang Bao, director of Dong Thap’s Transport Department, said the rescue stopped for a couple hours on Sunday night and was resumed early on Monday.

Bao said the construction site was fenced and there are warning signs. But the department will look into any possible safety violations after the rescue completes.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered the National Committee for Natural Disaster Response, Search and Rescue, and ministers of national defense, public security, transport, and construction to provide necessary forces and connect with experts experienced in the matter to help with the rescue.