Algeria rescuers try to free boy trapped in 80m well

Rescuers in southwestern Algeria were working on September 5 to free a 10-year-old boy trapped in an 80-metre-deep well, civil protection authorities said.

Authorities identified the boy only as Ayoub. They said he fell into the dry well near his home in the desert municipality of Brezina in El Bayadh province, about 550 kilometres south of Algiers.

Teams had been trying for four days to reach him. Civil protection authorities said rescuers were struggling because Ayoub was trapped beneath a thick layer of soil and the traditionally dug well was only 40 centimetres wide.

Images released by authorities and local media showed heavy machinery digging a large pit alongside the well to reach the boy.