Morocco bid to free Rayan, 5, from well reaches nerve-wracking final stages

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Bystanders watch as Moroccan emergency teams work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan from a well shaft he fell into on February 1, in the remote village of Ighrane in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 4, 2022. (AFP)
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Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to get five-year-old child Rayan out of a well into which he fell after 48 hours earlier, on Thursday in the region of Chefchaouen near the city of Bab Berred. (AP)
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Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to get five-year-old child Rayan out of a well into which he fell after 48 hours earlier, on Thursday in the region of Chefchaouen near the city of Bab Berred. (AP)
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Moroccan rescue teams work to get five-year-old child Rayan out of a well into which he fell after 48 hours earlier, on Thursday in the region of Chefchaouen near the city of Bab Berred. (AP)
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Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to get five-year-old child Rayan out of a well into which he fell after 48 hours earlier, on Thursday in the region of Chefchaouen near the city of Bab Berred. (AFP)
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Updated 06 February 2022
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Morocco bid to free Rayan, 5, from well reaches nerve-wracking final stages

  • Little Rayan fell down the well on Tuesday evening
  • As rescuers dig, Rayan is being supplied with food and oxygen

DUBAI: Moroccan rescuers were only meters away Saturday in their nerve-wracking but increasingly urgent effort to rescue Rayan, a five-year-old boy trapped underground whom they hope to find alive.

For five days the complex and risky earth-moving operation has gripped residents of the North African kingdom and even sparked sympathy in neighboring Algeria, a regional rival.

Abdelhadi Tamrani, an official in charge of the operation, said he had “big hopes” of pulling the boy out alive from the well.

But the more time that passes, the more fears arise over his condition.

Rayan accidentally fell about 32 meters (35 yards) down the tight, empty shaft near his home in the remote village of Ighrane in Chefchaouen province on Tuesday afternoon.




Moroccan authorities and Moroccan civil defense members work to rescue five-year-old child Rayan trapped in a deep well for over two days in the northern province of Chefchaouen near Bab Berred on February 3, 2022. (File/AFP)

Rescue crews, using bulldozers and front-end loaders, excavated the surrounding red earth down to the level where the boy is trapped and are now digging horizontally toward him.

They face a risk of landslides, and on Saturday they had to maneuver around a large rock.

In darkness, crews moved a heavy pipe into position in the area. One rescuer lugged what appeared to be a jackhammer.

“We’re almost there,” said one of the operation’s leaders, Abdesalam Makoudi, adding “tiredness is kicking in, but the whole rescue team is hanging on.”




Little Rayan fell down the well on Tuesday evening. (Twitter user)

According to Al Arabiya news channel the only way to reach the boy is by digging a hole and pulling him from the opposite side of the well through which he fell.  

Abdel Hadi Tamrani, head of Civil Protection on site, told Arab News that due to the crumbling of the earth around the shaft, teams are forced to take a break from time to time.

“The more we dig the greater the risk of crumbling, so to ensure the safety of the excavator operators, we have to take breaks at times,” he said.

“It is a very sensitive operation, we are in the process of securing the lower part of the cavity before sending a special team which will aim to dig a hole about 4 meters horizontally, to reach the location where Rayan is.

“The main challenge we have now is not to put the lives of our teams at risk.”




Teams using machinery to excavate the ground in order to free the boy. (Reuters via Al3omk.com)

When asked about his condition, Tamrani said Rayan was not eatring or drinking and might have fallen into a coma, but “still had hope he is alive,” adding that a Royal Armed Forces helicopter was available to transport the child as quickly as possible to the nearest medical unit.

Recalling the events of Tuesday evening, Rayan’s mother told local media she had looked for him everywhere after his disappearance. 

“When I did not find him, I understood that he had fallen into the well located near the house,” she said.

The young child's father told Al-Arabiya that the last time he saw Rayan through surveillance cameras was Thursday afternoon.

People have taken to social media platforms expressing their support.

Moroccan footballer and PSG star Achraf Hakimi posted his support, alongside emojis of a broken heart and hands together in prayer.

“I want everyone to pray for this little five-year-old boy who fell into a very deep well and is still fighting to stay alive for 48 hours. Our heart is with him,” a twitter user said.

Another twitter user said: “Don’t worry Rayan. Angels is with you and Allah with you and all the world is with you. We love you we waiting to see you.”

Rescue worker Imad Fahmi told local media that he was able to go down 25 meters into the well but could not continue. 

“As for little Ryan, I tried to talk to him to get his reaction, but I only heard his breathing and his cries of distress, as if he was suffering from an injury. He was 10-12 meters from me, but the space was very tight. I tried to dig with my feet to reach it, but to no avail. At one point I couldn’t go any further,” he added.

Lead rescuer Abdelhabi Temrani told Al Oula television that the diameter of the well was less than 45 centimeters.

Baitas said the nature of the soil meant it was too dangerous to try to widen the hole, meaning major excavations around it were the only solution.


Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

Updated 56 min 53 sec ago
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Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions

  • In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security

DUBAI: Two French citizens detained in Iran since May 2022 are in good health and being held in good detention conditions, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday, according to state media.
Last month, France’s foreign ministry said the conditions that three of its nationals were being held in by Iran were unacceptable.
“According to the relevant authorities, these two people have good conditions in the detention center and are in good health, so any claim regarding their conditions being abnormal is rejected,” Jahangir said.
The spokesperson was referring to Cecile Koehler and Jacques Paris, who he said were arrested on charges of espionage and will have their next court hearing on Nov. 24.
Jahangir did not mention the third French national detained in Iran. French media have disclosed only his first name, Olivier.
In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.


Israeli airstrikes kill at least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say

Updated 05 November 2024
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Israeli airstrikes kill at least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say

  • Airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 30, Palestinian medics and media say
  • Israeli military says it ‘eliminated terrorists’ in latest operations

CAIRO: Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 30 Palestinians since Monday night, Palestinian media and medics said on Tuesday, as the Israeli army tightened its siege on northern areas of the enclave.
An airstrike damaged two houses in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where the army has carried out new operations since Oct. 5, and killed at least 20 people late on Monday, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA and Hamas media said.
The Gaza health ministry did not immediately confirm the toll. Four other people were killed in the central Gazan town of Al-Zawayda around midnight on Monday, medics said.
Palestinian health officials said six people had also been killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and Deir Al-Balah in the central area of the narrow enclave.
The Israeli military said, without giving details, that its forces had “eliminated terrorists” in the central Gaza Strip and Jabalia area. Israeli troops had also located weapons and explosives over the past day in the southern Rafah area, where “terrorist infrastructure sites” had been eliminated, it said.
Palestinians said the new attacks and Israeli orders for people to evacuate were aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a refugee camp to create buffer zones.
Israel says its forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military infrastructure in Jabalia in the past month.
More than 43,300 Palestinians have been killed in more than a year of war in Gaza, the authorities in Gaza say, and much of the territory has been reduced to ruins.
The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.


Sudan paramilitaries kill 10 civilians: activists

Updated 05 November 2024
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Sudan paramilitaries kill 10 civilians: activists

PORT SUDAN: Ten civilians were killed in the central Sudanese state of Al-Jazira, pro-democracy activists said on Tuesday, in an attack they blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The Madani Resistance Committee, one of hundreds of volunteer groups coordinating aid across the country, said the RSF carried out the killings on Monday night in the village of Barborab, about 85 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of the state capital Wad Madani.


Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms

Updated 05 November 2024
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Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms

  • Washington told Israel on Oct. 13 it had 30 days to take steps to address humanitarian crisis in Gaza
  • Israel on Monday announced cancelling agreement with UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA)

WASHINGTON: Israel has taken some measures to increase aid access to Gaza but has so far failed to significantly turn around the humanitarian situation in the enclave, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday, as a deadline set by the US to improve the situation approaches.
The Biden administration told Israel in an Oct. 13 letter it had 30 days to take specific steps to address the dire humanitarian crisis in the strip, which has been pummeled for more than a year by Israeli ground and air operations that Israel says are aimed at rooting out Hamas militants.
Aid workers and UN officials say humanitarian conditions continue to be dire in Gaza.
“As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around. We have seen an increase in some measurements. We’ve seen an increase in the number of crossings that are open. But just if you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter, those have not been met,” Miller said.
Miller said the results so far were “not good enough” but stressed that the 30-day period had not elapsed.
He declined to say what consequences Israel would face if it failed to implement the recommendations.
“What I can tell you that we will do is we will follow the law,” he said.
Washington, Israel’s main supplier of weapons, has frequently pressed Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza since the war with Hamas began with the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.
The Oct. 13 letter, sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, said a failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing the measures on aid access may have implications for US policy and law.
Section 620i of the US Foreign Assistance Act prohibits military aid to countries that impede delivery of US humanitarian assistance.
Israel on Monday said it was canceling its agreement with the UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), citing accusations that some UNRWA staff had Hamas links.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said Israel had scaled back the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip to an average of 30 trucks a day, the lowest in a long time.
An Israeli government spokesman said no limit had been imposed on aid entering Gaza, with 47 aid trucks entering northern Gaza on Sunday alone.
Israeli statistics reviewed by Reuters last week showed that aid shipments allowed into Gaza in October remained at their lowest levels since October 2023.


Israel issues 7,000 new draft orders for ultra-Orthodox members

Updated 05 November 2024
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Israel issues 7,000 new draft orders for ultra-Orthodox members

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued 7,000 additional army draft orders Monday for individuals from the country’s ultra-Orthodox community, historically exempted from mandatory service until a June Supreme Court decision.
Gallant approved the Israeli army’s “recommendation to issue an additional 7,000 orders for screening and evaluation processes for ultra-Orthodox draft-eligible individuals in the upcoming phase, which is expected to begin in the coming days,” the defense ministry said in a statement.
The order comes after a first round of 3,000 draft orders were sent out in July, sparking protests from the ultra-Orthodox community.
Monday’s orders come at a time when Israel is struggling to bolster troop numbers as it fights a multi-front war, with ground forces deployed to fight Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The defense minister concluded that the war and the challenges we face underscore the (Israeli army’s) need for additional soldiers. This is a tangible operational need that requires broad national mobilization from all parts of society,” the ministry said.
In Israel, military service is mandatory for Jewish men for 32 months, and for 24 months for Jewish women.
The ultra-Orthodox account for 14 percent of Israel’s Jewish population, according to the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), representing about 1.3 million people.
About 66,000 of those of conscription age are exempted, according to the army.
Under a rule adopted at Israel’s creation in 1948, when it applied to only 400 people, the ultra-Orthodox have historically been exempted from military service if they dedicate themselves to the study of sacred Jewish texts.
In June, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the draft of yeshiva (seminary) students after deciding the government could not keep up the exemption “without an adequate legal framework.”
Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,374 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to Gaza health ministry figures which the United Nations considers to be reliable.
Since late September, Israel has broadened the focus of its war to Lebanon, where it intensified air strikes and later sent in ground troops, following nearly a year of tit-for-tat cross-border fire with Hezbollah.