Four-year-old boy dies after 21-hour rescue from 220-foot borewell in Haryana

Ambala: A four-year-old boy who fell into a 220-foot-deep open borewell in Haryana's Ambala district has died despite a marathon 21-hour rescue operation involving multiple agencies.

Nirvair Singh was pulled out of the borewell at around 3.40am on Wednesday after rescuers worked through the night to reach him. He was immediately taken by ambulance to the Civil Hospital in Ambala Cantonment, where doctors declared him brought dead.

The accident took place at around 6.30am on Tuesday in Dhaneora village. Nirvair had accompanied his father, Manjit, to their family's fields to deliver breakfast to his grandfather, Karnail Singh.

According to the family, Karnail had been working in the fields since early morning, while Manjit arrived later with food. Nirvair had insisted on joining his father for the visit.

After reaching the fields, Manjit resumed work while Karnail began eating. The child, who had been sitting nearby, wandered away to play and came across an uncovered borewell. Family members said he started throwing soil into the opening before leaning over to look inside. The wet ground around the borewell is believed to have collapsed beneath him, causing him to fall.

Hearing a loud noise, Manjit and other family members rushed to the borewell and called out to the child. After initial attempts by relatives and villagers to rescue him proved unsuccessful, the authorities were alerted at around 7.30am.

Officials, including Deputy Commissioner Ajay Singh Tomar, reached the site soon afterwards. Rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Army launched a large-scale operation to retrieve the child from the narrow borewell, which measured around nine inches in diameter and extended approximately 220 feet underground.

Haryana Cabinet Minister Anil Vij also visited the site on Tuesday evening to review the rescue efforts and meet the grieving family.

Speaking during the operation, Tomar said police had been instructed to initiate action against those responsible for leaving the borewell uncovered. He also appealed to farmers to ensure abandoned or unused borewells are properly sealed, warning that such tragedies are entirely preventable.

The incident comes just weeks after another four-year-old boy was rescued from a newly dug borewell in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district. Trapped at a depth of around 20 to 30 feet, the child was safely pulled out after a rescue operation lasting nearly nine hours.

India has witnessed several such incidents over the years, the most notable being the 2006 rescue of five-year-old Prince, who survived after spending nearly 48 hours trapped inside a borewell in Haryana's Kurukshetra district. The operation drew nationwide attention and prompted renewed calls for stricter enforcement of borewell safety measures.