Pics courtesy: Associated Press
July 24, 2006
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Prince, the little boy from Haldheri village in Haryana who fell into a tube well shaft, celebrated his birthday all alone at the bottom of the 60-foot hole. The six-year-old spent more than two days in the darkness before Armymen rescued him. In pic: Soldiers carry Prince after he was rescued from the 60-foot-deep hole.
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He had fallen into the deep, narrow shaft, which had been dug for a submersible tube well and then left uncovered, when he was playing with his friends. Experts from the 65 Engineer Regiment of the Army`s Ambala-based 2 Corps supervised the rescue operation, aided by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the civil and police administration. In pic: An unidentified person hands over toys to Ram Chander, Prince`s father.
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Since the hole was too narrow to pull the boy up, Army personnel dug a 56-feet deep, 15-feet wide parallel tunnel from a dried up well that was present alongside the shaft. The entire ordeal lasted 50 hours.
In pic: Soldiers carry Prince after he was rescued.
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The Army`s biggest fear was that the earth around the tunnel would collapse because of the large crowds at the venue. Around 7 p.m. on Sunday, an Army jawan finally reached the little boy and handed him food and glucose. In pic: Prince is carried by his father after he was rescued.
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Crowds broke into applause as a crane hoisted Prince, who was wrapped in a white sheet and carried by a soldier, from the shaft. A doctor, who was waiting on site, examined him and said he would need counselling to overcome the trauma. In pic: Villagers and police officers applaud the rescue of Prince.
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Prince looked dazed as he was handed over to his mother Karamjit. The boy did not seem to be in pain. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has announced a grant of Rs 2 lac for the boy.
In pic: Karamjit prays as she watches the rescue of her son on closed circuit television.
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