Hundreds gather to lay five-year-old Morocco boy Rayan to rest at funeral after he died at the bottom of well despite epic five-day rescue mission
- Hundreds of mourners have gathered to pay their final respects to the five-year-old Rayan Awram today
- The young boy fell into a 105ft shaft outside home in Ighran village, in northern province of Chefchaouen
- On Saturday rescuers reached the boy but officials confirmed the young boy could not be resuscitated
- Today mourners climbed the hilly, unpaved road leading to the cemetery in Ighran, near Chefchaouen
Hundreds of mourners have gathered to pay their final respects to the five-year-old boy who died after he was trapped in a well in Morocco for five days.
Emergency teams began digging in a race-against-the-clock rescue mission after Rayan Awram fell into a 105ft shaft outside his home in Ighran village, in the northern province of Chefchaouen, last Tuesday.
On Saturday rescuers and resuscitation experts finally reached the boy, offering a faint glimmer of hope that he might have survived the ordeal.
However government officials confirmed the young boy could not be resuscitated, adding that he had died before rescuers could reach him.
Today mourners climbed the hilly, unpaved road leading to the cemetery in Ighran, near Chefchaouen in northern Morocco, where they waited for hours to observe the Muslim burial rituals.
The scenes come after footballer Abderrazak Hamdallah extended his ‘deepest condolences’ to Rayan’s family and offered to buy them a home.
Earlier today two large tents were erected in front of the grieving family’s house where mourners could stop to offer condolences as hundreds of people made their way to the cemetery.
Hundreds of mourners have gathered in Ighran, near Chefchaouen, to pay their final respects to five-year-old Rayan Awram who died after he was trapped in a well in Morocco for five days
Mourners sat down in Ighran village, in the northern province of Chefchaouen, today to observe the Muslim burial rituals
Five-year-old Rayan Awram fell into a 105ft shaft outside his home in Ighran village, in the northern province of Chefchaouen, last Tuesday
On Saturday rescuers and resuscitation experts finally reached the boy but government officials confirmed the young boy could not be resuscitated
One villager said: ‘I am over 50-years-old and never seen as many people in a funeral. Rayan is the son of us all.’
Another villager said: ‘Rayan’s death has renewed faith in humanity as people in different languages and from different countries express solidarity.’
‘I am very sad. We spared no effort to reach the boy alive. We excavated around the clock in five days what could have taken weeks,’ a volunteer digger, Ali Sahraoui, told reporters at the funeral.
Yesterday Moroccan international footballer Abderrazak Hamdallah, 31, who plays for Al-Ittihad, extended his ‘deepest condolences’ to Rayan’s family and offered to buy them a house ‘to help and bring a little joy’.
In a message on Instagram the striker wrote: ‘We have gone through five very remote days and our hearts were snatched from us, Moroccans, all Arabs and Muslims, and even the whole world.
‘We praised and thanked God for everything that Rayan took, and he was more merciful to us and more deserving of it than us
‘With this affliction, I extend my deepest condolences to Rayan’s family, and I ask God to grant them patience and solace.
‘And I have decided, in my name and my family’s name, and in the name of all Moroccans and Muslims, to help and bring a little joy to Rayan’s family, his parents and his brothers and give them a fully equipped house. We ask God to accept us and make it in the balance of the good deeds of all Muslims
‘This is help from a brother to you and God’s mercy.’
Tributes have flooded in from across the world for Rayan after rescue teams confirmed he had died.
Speaking after Rayan’s death was confirmed his aunt, Atiqua Awram told local media: ‘My nephew, my heart is aching for him, too much. May God be with him, just like how God stood with us.’
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI sent his condolences to the Awram family and praised both the rescue crews and local community for their valiant efforts over the past week.
And French President Emmanuel Macron added his voice to the tributes, writing in a Facebook message on Saturday: ‘Tonight, I want to tell the family of little Rayan and the Moroccan people that we share their pain.’
On Saturday, condolences to Rayan’s parents also came from Pope Francis and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Egyptian and Senegalese football players held a minute of silence on Sunday before the kickoff of the final of the African Cup of Nations soccer tournament.
Mourners carry the coffin of five-year-old Rayan Awram who spent days trapped in a 105ft deep well in Morocco
Hundreds of people climbed the hilly, unpaved road leading to the cemetery in Ighran, near Chefchaouen in northern Morocco, to pay their respects to the young boy
Mourners offered their condolences as hundreds made their way to the cemetery for the funeral of the five-year-old boy
Hundreds of mourners were seen along the unpaved road leading to the cemetery in Ighran, near Chefchaouen, today
Rayan’s parents (pictured) walk to the ambulance after their five-year-old son’s body was recovered on Saturday
An ambulance carries five-year-old child, Rayan Awram, who was trapped for five days in a well, to a helicopter
The parents of Rayan walk towards an ambulance after seeing their son’s body being carried by rescuers
Rescue workers carry Rayan to an ambulance on Saturday night after a rescue mission to get to him
People gather during the rescue operation of five-year-old child, Rayan Awram, who was trapped for five days in a well, near Chefchaouen, northern Morocco
Bwa Sahraoui (pictured) was praised for using his bare hands to dig frantically for three days in the hope of saving the young boy
After Rayan fell into the well a massive trench was dug into the hill next to the well in an effort to get to him.
By Saturday morning rescuers were digging horizontally towards the well, and installing PVC tubes to protect against landslides and get the boy out.
‘We’re almost there,’ said one of the operation’s leaders, Abdesalam Makoudi, earlier on Saturday, adding: ‘Tiredness is kicking in, but the whole rescue team is hanging on.’
On Saturday, experts used a rope to send oxygen and water down to the boy as well as a camera to monitor him, but did not provide information about his condition.
It came a day after camera footage from the frantic rescue operation showed the boy lying at the bottom of the shaft.
‘I pray and beg God that he comes out of that well alive and safe,’ Rayan’s mother Wassima Kharchich told local television station 2M.
‘Please God, ease my pain and his, in that hole of dust. The whole family went out to look for him then we realised that he’d fallen down the well,’ she added.
Rayan’s father, who said he was repairing the well when the boy fell into it, was pictured nervously watching the rescue mission late on Friday night.
‘I keep up hope that my child will get out of the well alive,’ Rayan’s father told 2M on Friday evening. ‘I thank everyone involved and those supporting us in Morocco and elsewhere.’
Yesterday labourer Bwa Sahraoui who dug with his hands for three days in an attempt to rescue the five-year-old was lauded as a hero.
Scores of townspeople and others gathered to help and watch the rescue efforts.
Nationwide, Moroccans took to social media to offer their hopes for the boy’s survival, using the hashtag #SaveRayan which has brought global attention to the rescue efforts.
Thousands of people gathered around the site, surrounded by olive trees, where AFP reporters said the tension was palpable..
The shaft, just 45 centimetres (18 inches) across, was too narrow to reach Rayan, and widening it was deemed too risky – so earth-movers dug a wide slope into the hill to reach him from the side.
The operation made the landscape resemble a construction site. It involved engineers and topographers, and was made more complex by the mix of rocky and sandy soils.
Red-helmeted Civil Defence personnel were at times suspended by rope, as if on a cliff face.
Working non-stop through the darkness overnight under powerful floodlights workers dug a horizontal tunnel to reach the pocket where Rayan was situated.
Search crews first used five bulldozers to dig vertically to a depth of more than 31 metres, according to Morocco’s official MAP news agency.
Then on Friday, they started excavating a horizontal tunnel to reach the trapped boy as experts in topographical engineering were called upon for help.
The scenes come after footballer Abderrazak Hamdallah extended his ‘deepest condolences’ to Rayan’s family and offered to buy them a home
People look on as an ambulance drives away from the scene where rescue crews worked to pull five-year-old Rayan
The complex and risky earth-moving operation gripped residents of the North African kingdom and even sparked sympathy in neighbouring Algeria, a regional rival. Pictured: Rescue workers prepare large piping to create a tunnel
A view shows a well into which the five-year-old boy fell in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco February 5, 2022
Work had to be temporarily halted over fears the ground surrounding the well could collapse, but it was later resumed.
Medical staff, including specialists in resuscitation, were also on site to attend to the boy once he was pulled out, with a helicopter on standby to transport him to the nearest hospital.
The Moroccan government previously said all efforts were being made to help save the boy.
Police reinforcements also had to be sent as the authorities called on the public to ‘let the rescuers do their job and save this child.’
But one volunteer said he was there to help. ‘We’ve been here for three days. Rayan is a child of our region. We won’t leave until he’s out of the well,’ he said.
The accident echoes a tragedy in Spain in early 2019 when a two-year-old child died after falling into an abandoned well 25cm wide and more than 70 metres deep.
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