Turning back to find her son missing, child calls mother from inside deep pit

Upon turning back and finding her child missing, the mother heard him calling “ma, ma” from inside a pit. Rescue efforts to save the child, who had fallen into a 30–35 foot deep pit in Tanore, Rajshahi, is ongoing from Wednesday night.

The fire service has been working to rescue the child and excavation with heavy machinery is ongoing. At the same time, oxygen is being supplied continuously to keep the child alive.

At around 1:00 pm on Wednesday, Sajid, a two year old boy, fell into the deep pit in Tanore. The child had been walking alongside his mother, holding her hand, through a paddy field where the harvest had already been cut.

Suddenly he slipped and fell into the pit. Sajid is the son of Rakib, a resident of Koelhat Purba Para village in the upazila. Rakib works in Dhaka as a manager at a jute mill and has not yet been able to return home.

Sajid’s mother, Runa Khatun, told Prothom Alo that around 1:00 pm she had been walking towards the fields near their home, holding Sajid by the hand, while carrying her younger child in her arms. While walking, Sajid suddenly called out “ma.”

When she turned back, she realised he was no longer beside her; instead, he was calling “ma, ma” from inside the pit. Straw had been spread over the top of the pit.

Neither she nor her son had realised that there was a hole underneath. As soon as he stepped on that spot, the child fell through. While she was calling for help, the child slipped further down into the pit.

Didarul Alam, assistant director of the Rajshahi division fire service, said they received the information about the child falling into the pit at around 2:30 pm.

Upon arrival, they found that local residents, in their attempt to rescue the child, had inadvertently dropped some soil into the pit. Until 4:00 pm, the child had been responding, but afterwards no response was detected due to the commotion created by the surrounding crowd.

Regarding the rescue operation, the fire service official stated that three units were working on site. All possible efforts were being made to rescue the child unharmed and safely.

From around 5:30 pm, an excavator began digging another pit adjacent to the original one and by around 7:45 pm, a depth of 10 to 12 feet had been reached. Two tractors were being used to remove the soil. Completing the excavation could take several more hours.

Local residents reported that the groundwater level in this village under Pachandar Union of Tanore Upazila has dropped significantly. Installation of deep tube-wells in the area is currently prohibited.

Despite this, a resident of Koelhat village had previously dug the pit on his land to check whether water could be found beneath the surface. Although the pit had been filled in, the soil had subsided again during the monsoon, creating a new cavity. The child had fallen into that very pit.

Hundreds of residents have gathered to witness the rescue operation. At around 8:15 pm, Md Shahinuzzaman, officer-in-charge of Tanore police station, stated that the area had been cordoned off with ropes to maintain control of the situation.