KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — An 11-year-old Afghan boy has risked his life to rescue a five-year-old child who had been trapped for two days inside a narrow, abandoned borewell in southern Afghanistan.
Five-year-old Zainullah fell into the dried-up well while playing with friends in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. He plunged approximately 70 metres (230 feet) underground, where he remained trapped in darkness, cold and standing water.
Rescuers were able to lower a camera into the shaft, allowing people above ground to see the frightened child huddled at the bottom.
Despite surviving the fall, Zainullah faced another major danger: the borewell was only about 30 centimetres (12 inches) wide, making it impossible for an adult to descend into the shaft.
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Rescuers initially lowered a rope and attempted to get the young boy to secure himself so that he could be pulled to safety. But because of his age and fear, Zainullah was unable to understand what he needed to do.
Several attempts were made to reach him.
Three other children reportedly volunteered to descend into the narrow shaft, but they were forced to abandon their attempts after struggling to breathe inside the confined space.
Then rescuers turned to 11-year-old Hazrat Omar, who had reportedly taken part in another successful underground rescue mission.
Despite warnings from worried adults, Hazrat agreed to enter the dangerous well after receiving permission from his uncle.
His first attempt ended when his shoulder and thigh became stuck inside the narrow shaft.
“I shouted that I was hurt. They pulled me back up,” Hazrat recalled.
But the young rescuer did not give up.
On his second attempt, Hazrat was successfully lowered all the way to the bottom of the well, where he reached Zainullah.
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Above ground, hundreds of people waited anxiously as rescuers began pulling the rope back up metre by metre.
Eventually, the two boys emerged from the well, bringing an end to a tense rescue operation that had captured the attention of the local community.
The dramatic rescue has also highlighted a wider and increasingly dangerous problem in Afghanistan.
Across the country, the desperate search for groundwater has led to the drilling of hundreds of thousands of deep, narrow boreholes. Many are difficult to identify, particularly after they have been abandoned, creating serious risks for children, farmers and animals.
The borewell where Zainullah fell had reportedly dried up two years earlier. Local farmers had covered its opening with wood and soil, but the wood eventually decayed and the soil became loose, leaving the dangerous shaft exposed beneath the surface.
The rescue has since drawn attention to the dangers posed by abandoned wells and the need for communities to properly seal or mark them to prevent similar tragedies.
For Zainullah, however, the story ended with a remarkable act of courage — and an 11-year-old boy willing to put himself in danger to bring another child home.
