A four-year-old child who fell into an abandoned hole dug for a deep tube well in Raozan upazila of Chittagong was recovered dead on Wednesday evening after a four-hour rescue operation.
The child, identified as Mezbah Uddin, went missing around 4:30pm after falling into the hole in Joynagar village of Kadulpur union. Fire Service personnel recovered him at about 8:30pm and took him to Raozan Upazila Health Complex, where the on-duty doctor declared him dead.
Mezbah was the son of day laborer Saiful Islam, a resident of the village. Family members and local residents said the hole for a government deep tube well had been dug four to five years ago about 30–40 feet from their home, but the tube well was never installed.
According to the Fire Service, the child fell at least 20 feet into the hole while playing in the afternoon. Firefighters launched a rescue operation in the evening, located the child underground and supplied oxygen, with local residents also assisting in the effort.
Raozan Fire Service Station In-Charge Shamsul Alam said the child was rescued after four hours of operation and was declared dead upon arrival at the hospital.
Raozan Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Sajedul Islam told Dhaka Tribune that locals heard the child crying after the fall and alerted the Fire Service and police, who later recovered the body.
Raozan Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Md Shahjahan said the child was brought to the hospital around 8:30pm and was declared dead after examination.
A similar incident occurred on December 10 last year in Tanore upazila of Rajshahi, where a two-year-old child fell into an abandoned deep tube well hole and was recovered dead about 32 hours later from a depth of nearly 30 feet.