Photo: STR/AFP via Getty
Efforts continue in Vietnam to rescue a 10-year-old boy who fell into a concrete pile at a construction site on New Year’s Eve.
The boy, identified as Ly Hao Nam, had reportedly been searching for scrap metal with his friends when he fell down a 35-meter (115-ft.) pillar shaft in Vietnam’s Dong Thap province, where work on a bridge was underway.
“I cannot understand how he fell into the hollow concrete pile,” which has a diameter of less than 10 inches and was driven 115 feet into the ground, Dong Thap Department of Transport Director Le Hoang Bao told Vietnam newspaperTuoi Tre News, perNBC News.
Hundreds of rescuers worked around the clock to try to help the boy escape, including pumping oxygen down the shaft to help him breathe and softening the soil around the concrete pile. Attempts to lift the concrete pile with cranes and excavators so far have been unsuccessful, according to theBBC.
STR/AFP via Getty
“We are trying our best. We cannot tell the boy’s condition yet,” one rescuer who identified himself as Sau told AFP news agency, perBBC.
TheTuoi Trenewspaperreported that rain also hindered rescue efforts on Monday morning.
“We paused the rescue task to wait for other vehicles and equipment to continue saving the boy. It means that the rescue plan has changed,” People’s Committee of Thanh Binh District Chairman Huynh Van No told the publication.
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“We will still use large machinery but ensure that the concrete pile will not fall. With this solution, we expect to quickly save the boy and ensure his safety,” he added.
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked federal rescue workers to coordinate and aid in local efforts to save the boy, according to multiple news sites.
source: people.com
