Spanish Rescuers Find Body of Toddler Trapped in Well

Reuters
By Reuters
January 26, 2019World News
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Spanish Rescuers Find Body of Toddler Trapped in Well
Jose Rosello (L), father of Julen who fell down a well, cries as rescue efforts continue to find the boy in Totalan in southern Spain, Jan. 16, 2019. (Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)

Spanish rescuers on Jan. 26 found the dead body of a two-year-old boy who had fallen into a deep narrow well in southern Spain on Jan. 13, a Spanish official said.

Miners had been drilling day and night to reach the boy, Julen, into the borehole – 100 metres (300 feet) deep and just 25 cm (10 inches) wide – which was blocked with soil.

A team of miners started digging a tunnel in a last-ditch bid to reach a two-year-old boy who fell into a well
A helicopter of the Spanish Guardia Civil, transporting explosives, lands at the site where a child fell down a well in Totalan, southern Spain, on January 24, 2019. – A team of miners started digging a tunnel in a last-ditch bid to reach a two-year-old boy who fell into a well in Andalusia in southern Spain 11 days ago. The team of eight experts had waited days for a vertical shaft to be sunk into the hard, rocky soil, parallel to the well into which Julen Rosello tumbled on January 13. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP) (Photo credit should read JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)

“At 1:25 a.m. the rescue teams reached the area of the well where they were looking for Julen and they found the lifeless body of the little one,” said a government spokesperson in Malaga.

Spanish civil guard spokesman Jorge Martin
Spanish civil guard spokesman Jorge Martin (L) gives a press conference in Totalan, southern Spain, on January 25, 2019. (JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)

After the announcement, emergency services along with Spanish police attended the family of Julen at a neighbour’s house near the rescue scene where they have been staying during the last days.

A funeral service van drives to a drilled well after rescuers found the body of two-year-old Julen Rosello
A funeral service van drives to a drilled well after rescuers found the body of two-year-old Julen Rosello, in Totalan, southern Spain, on January 26, 2019. – Spanish authorities said early Saturday January 26, 2019 that rescuers had found the lifeless body of a 2-year-old boy who fell into a deep well 13 days ago. (JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)

There had been no signs of life since the boy had fallen into the borehole as his family was walking through a private estate in Totalan in southern Spain.

Rescuers found the well was blocked with soil, raising fears the well had collapsed on top of the child.

The case has captivated Spain and the whole country is holding its breath for the outcome, not least because Julen’s parents lived another family tragedy in 2017. According to media reports, their three-year-old son died suddenly while walking along a beach not far from Totalan.

Residents gathered nearby for a vigil to support the family, many holding homemade placards reading, “All of Spain is with you.”

Neighbors gather in support of two-year-old Julen Rosello
Neighbors gather in support of two-year-old Julen Rosello and his parents in Totalan, southern Spain, on January 24, 2019. (JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)
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