In Vietnam, rescuers on Friday found and retrieved the body of a 10-year-old boy who fell into a deep pit at a construction site in the south of the country a few weeks ago, state media said on Friday.
Thai Ly Hao Nam had fallen into a hollow concrete pillar just 25 centimeters wide and 35 meters deep, which had been sunk to build a new bridge, while apparently mining for scrap metal on December 31.
Rescuers in Dong Thap province in the Mekong Delta tried to drill into the surrounding soil and soften it to pull up the pillar and pull the boy out, but to no avail.
Four days after his fall, authorities pronounced the boy dead, adding that finding his body was “a very difficult task”.
Hundreds of soldiers and engineering experts were deployed.
The boy was brought to the surface early Friday after rescuers dove to a depth of 25 meters and then used special equipment to pull him up, news site VNExpress reported.
“The rescue took a long time. Since there was dirt around the pillar, the boy’s body was intact,” provincial committee vice chairman Doan Tan Buu said on Friday.
The boy’s body was given to his family for burial.