Algeria civil defence recovers body of 10-year-old boy from well

The body of a 10-year-old boy has been recovered from a well in Algeria’s western province of el-Bayadh, the country’s civil protection agency said, ending a four-day rescue operation that had drawn national attention.

The agency said in a statement on Facebook on Saturday that rescue teams reached the boy, Ayoub, who had died, and recovered his body. It said local authorities and other agencies had mobilised all available resources for the operation.

Ayoub fell into the dry well on Wednesday while walking home in the village of Errokn, in the municipality of Ghassoul. He stepped on a wooden board covering the well opening, which gave way beneath him, and he plunged into the shaft, which was about 80 metres (262 feet) deep and 40cm (15.75 inches) in diameter.

Rescuers were unable to descend into the well, so they dug a parallel shaft to reach the boy through a horizontal passage, using machinery alongside technical experts, work that continued over several days. Loose soil and hard rock layers complicated the effort, officials said.

Authorities in el-Bayadh formed a crisis response unit under the provincial governor, Noureddine Belarbi, involving civil protection, security and military personnel.

Large crowds of residents gathered near the site over the following days to follow the operation and offer support to the family, while additional civil protection units were deployed as the rescue entered what officials described as a “decisive” phase on its fourth day.

Ayoub’s death has revived public debate in Algeria over the safety of unsecured wells in rural areas, with commentators questioning the lack of regulation covering such structures, particularly in isolated regions.

The case recalled the 2018 death of a young man who fell into a 100-metre (328-foot) well in Msila province, where a rescue operation lasted nine days before his body was recovered, and the widely followed 2022 case of Moroccan toddler Rayan, who died after falling into a 32-metre (105-foot) well and being trapped for more than 100 hours in an operation that drew global attention before he was pulled out and later confirmed dead.