We are appalled that the four-year-old Jihad, who fell into a narrow, uncovered well at least 600 feet deep on Friday afternoon, could not be rescued alive after almost a full day’s efforts. This tragedy exposes the dire need for a close examination of our consistently sub-standard response during any crisis.
While rescue operations started within half an hour of the accident, the next several hours were wasted over many short-sighted attempts to recover the child. If the rescue team’s expectation that a frightened four-year-old would successfully hang on to a rope as it dragged him up 600 feet wasn’t unrealistic enough, that they repeatedly pursued the same method after the first failed attempt is indefensible.
The confusion at the scene over how best to deal with the situation, whether or not there was, in fact, a child stuck in the hole at all, and even the depth of the hole with estimates ranging from 400 to 700 feet, demonstrates how unprepared we are when it comes to handling emergencies.
There is no excuse for the lack of foresight displayed by the authorities under these circumstances, when a well-thought out and sensible plan might have saved a child’s life.
It is high time that the government seriously considers a thorough reworking of its rescue preparedness and take full-scale measures to guarantee a systematic and effective response to emergencies in the future.
