Authorities are scrambling to rescue a toddler who fell into a well in southern India on Friday.
According to a BBC report, Sujith Wilson, 2, fell down the unused borewell in the village of Nadukattupatti in the southern state of Tamil Nadu sometime Friday afternoon and was initially stuck about 10 metres down.
However, he has slipped much farther down and is now stuck approximately 180 metres deep.
Local district fire officer Puru Gandhi told CNN that a camera has been lowered into the well to monitor the boy.
According to Gandhi, Wilson is alive and breathing.
J. Radhakrishnan, the state’s commissioner for disaster management and mitigation, told CNN that rescuers have been pumping oxygen to the toddler and that they hope the operation will be completed in eight to 10 hours.
He said crews were able to dig 45 feet down before they hit rock, stalling the rescue mission.
In a tweet on Monday, Edappadi K Palaniswami, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, said that “heavy duty drilling machines and equipments (sic.) have been deployed,” and that experts are on-site to offer guidance.
“Further assistance would be sought depending on the status of rescue effort,” he wrote.
In a tweet posted Monday morning, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his prayers were with Wilson.
“Every effort is being made to ensure that he is safe,” he wrote.
Earlier this year, a two-year-old boy died after he fell 100 metres into a deep, narrow well in southern Spain.
In June, a toddler died after falling into a well in India’s Punjab state.
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