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Rescuers have inched closer to reaching a five-year-old boy trapped for for four nights in a well in Morocco, in an operation hampered by concerns about ground stability that has captivated the north African country. Rayan fell into a 32 metre (105 ft) well located outside his home in the village of Ighran in Morocco’s northern Chefchaouen province on Tuesday evening.
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A general view shows the site where rescuers are working to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well.
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The complex and risky earth-moving operation, now in its fifth day, has gripped residents of the North African kingdom and sparked a huge wave of sympathy across the globe. Have a look:
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Thousands of people gathered around the site of the accident, surrounded by olive trees, where the tension was palpable. Civil defence workers and local authorities attempt to rescue a 5-year-old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen on Feb. 4, 2022, in Ighran.
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A view shows a well into which a five-year-old boy fell.
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People use machinery to excavate the ground to free a boy trapped in an underground well, in Chefchaouen, Morocco, February 4, 2022, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video.
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Rescuers work to free Rayan who fell into a well in Chefchaouen on February 4, 2022, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video.
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The operation was made more complex by the mix of rocky and sandy soils and the risk of a landslide.
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A resident climbs in a tree to watch civil defence and local authorities attempting to rescue a 5-year-old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen on Feb. 4, 2022, in Ighran.
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A civil defense worker attempts to rescue a 5-year-old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022.
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Residents watch in concern as civil defense and local authorities attempt to rescue a 5-year-old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022.
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Residents watch in concern as civil defense and local authorities attempting to rescue a 5 year old boy who fell into a hole near the town of Bab Berred near Chefchaouen, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022 in Paris.
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The teams have been working around the clock, turning the landscape into a construction site.
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Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan, who is trapped in a deep well for over two days in Morocco's rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 3, 2022.
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Search crews first used five bulldozers over days to dig vertically to a depth of more than 31 meters, according to Morocco's official MAP news agency. Then on Friday, they started excavating a horizontal tunnel to reach the trapped boy, MAP said, adding that experts in topographical engineering were called upon for help.
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Bystanders watch as Moroccan authorities and firefighters work to rescue five-year-old boy Rayan, who is trapped in a deep well for over two days, near Bab Berred in Morocco's rural northern province of Chefchaouen on February 3, 2022.
Image Credit: AFP