Rescue Efforts End In Tragedy, 6-Year-Old Found Dead In Karnataka Borewell

Bengaluru: The attempt to rescue 6-year-old Kaveri who fell into a borewell in north Karnataka on Saturday, ended with the recovery of her body late on Monday night. A postmortem examination has been conducted and results are awaited. But Ravikante Gowda, a senior police officer of Belgavi, told NDTV that initial reports indicate that the child died of asphyxiation.

Kaveri had fallen in accidentally while playing with her friends on Saturday. After attempts to pull her up through the mouth of the borewell through ropes and hooks failed, the rescuers drilled a parallel hole. A horizontal channel had to dug after that to reach Kaveri, who had got stuck at a depth of 20 feet deep inside the borewell.

But the rocky terrain made the operation difficult. The Pune-based National Disaster Response Force, which was carrying out the rescue, managed to reach the child only after 54 hours. Through Sunday and Monday, oxygen had been supplied to the child. But despite all efforts, she died.  

Little Kaveri is not the first child to die this way. Over the years, many children have fallen into uncovered bore-wells in the country. Tragically, most do not survive.

Landowners and contractors who leave bore-wells open, without covering or fencing, are expected to inform panchayats.

A police case has been filed against the farmer in whose land the uncovered borewell was located. The man has been missing since Saturday, the police said.

The child's distraught mother has been put under medical care. "We appeal to the state government to shut all open and dry borewells anywhere in the state so that no other child will die like my dear Kaveri," Ms Savita was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.