Africa · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Algerian Rescue Workers Recover Body of 10-Year-Old Ayoub Hadaf From Well in El Bayadh
Ayoub, 10, fell into an 80-meter-deep dry well in Ghassoul, El Bayadh province. Rescue lasted four days before the body was recovered.
Where the boy fell within the province.
10 of 11 outlets skipped it: funeral details including coffin wrapped in the Algerian flag.
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NST Online
“near his home in the desert municipality of Brezina in El Bayadh province, some 550 kilometres south of Algiers.”Read the original ↗
The location details differ, affecting how local authorities are credited.
Boy Dies After 4 Days
Rescue efforts in Algeria ended in tragedy on Saturday after emergency workers recovered the body of 10-year-old Ayoub Hadaf, who had fallen into a dry well at a farm in Ghassoul in El Bayadh province.
“Unfortunately, he passed away. May God rest his soul.””
The Algerian Civil Defense said the rescue operation began "in two ways: with the discovery of a parallel vertical shaft" and through "a large-scale excavation carried out by the rescue teams to reach the victim," before adding, "Unfortunately, he passed away."
Reuters and other coverage described the well as 80 metres deep and only 40 centimetres in diameter, with rescuers struggling to reach the child because he was "trapped beneath a thick layer of soil."
Morocco World News said the four-day effort began after Ayoub fell into the well on Wednesday in the village of Rekna in the Ghassoul municipality of El Bayadh Province, and Civil Protection announced Saturday evening that rescuers had located him dead.
AP News also said the rescue operation ended Saturday night in northwestern Algeria, with Ayoub dying inside the well despite rescue efforts that had continued for several days, as his grandfather Ahmed Hadef and officials said Saturday night.
Parallel Shaft, Public Attention
Algerian Civil Defense spokesperson Nassim Bernaoui told reporters that rescuers identified the shaft’s layout and then began an extraction attempt, saying the operation was "a success" before the death was announced.
Morocco World News described how teams completed the parallel excavation around midnight between Friday and Saturday, after which a Civil Protection officer descended to begin digging a horizontal tunnel toward where Ayoub was believed to be trapped.
The rescue was closely followed across Algeria, with Africanews saying social media was awash with calls to save him and that rescuers struggled because he was "trapped beneath a thick layer of soil."A
AP News said Ayoub died inside the well despite rescue efforts that had continued for several days, and it quoted his grandfather Ahmed Hadef and officials as saying Saturday night that the boy had died.
NST Online and other outlets also said civil protection announced that "the child was found and recovered dead," after teams worked for four days to reach Ayoub in El Bayadh province.N
Burial and Wider Echoes
After the body was recovered on Saturday evening, Algeria bid farewell to Ayoub in a funeral in El Hassioul municipality’s cemetery, where crowds of citizens joined the burial of the 10-year-old boy.
“all available human and material resources for this operation”
Al Jazeera net said the boy’s body was placed in a coffin wrapped in the Algerian flag, with local officials taking part in the funeral rites, and it described severe sadness dominating the scene.
The same account said the Algerian Civil Protection announced it had managed to reach the boy’s body and retrieve him, noting that it mobilized "all available human and material resources for this operation" along with local authorities.
Al Jazeera net also said the incident began to emerge on Wednesday afternoon (September 2) when Ayoub fell into a dry well in the village of Arkan, in the El Hassioul municipality, after stepping over a wooden board covering the well opening.
It added that the ordeal reminded Algerians of earlier well tragedies, including the case of Moroccan child Rayan, who fell in February 2022 into a 32-meter-deep well and remained trapped for more than 100 hours, before rescue efforts ended with the announcement of his death.