It is still unclear exactly what died of the boy, whose funeral will take place on Monday. No official information has filtered on a possible autopsy, but it is probably the cause of the delay in the funeral.
While the Moroccan Sunday press describes “the fall of a child who reminded the whole world of the values of humanity”, the wave of sadness swept far beyond the kingdom alone. “We thank His Majesty the King, the authorities and all those who have helped us. May God be praised, may He have mercy on the dead,” the child’s father said on television on Saturday evening.
Visibly moved, Pope Francis greeted “a whole (Moroccan) people who came together to save Rayan”, during the Angelus prayer celebrated in the Vatican. “They tried everything, unfortunately he didn’t survive. But what an example. Thank you to these people for this testimony, ”reacted François.
The race against the clock conducted for five days by the rescuers had been followed live by countless Internet users. And as soon as the death was announced, tributes on social networks poured in from all over the world, from neighboring and rival Algeria to France or the United States, in all languages.
” Little angel “
“Little angel, you fought until the end, a hero”, greeted a surfer on Twitter. “Rayan’s courage will be remembered and will continue to inspire us. The dedication of the Moroccan people and the rescue workers as well,” wrote AC Milan Algerian international Ismaël Bennacer in a tweet accompanied by a drawing of a child rising into the sky hanging from a heart-shaped balloon in the colors from Morocco. The same goes for Monaco player Wissam Ben Yedder, who dedicated his team’s victory to Rayan.
“We had all kept hope that little Rayan would come out of it. All this is so tragic”, also reacted on Twitter the Moroccan-American novelist Laila Lalami, while French President Emmanuel Macron said on Facebook “to the family of little Rayan and to the Moroccan people that we share their pain”.
Painstaking work ultimately in vain
Rayan had accidentally fallen into a 32-meter dry well, narrow and difficult to access, dug near the family home on Tuesday. Entering a horizontal breach on Saturday afternoon, the rescuers had continued their work centimeter by centimeter, digging by hand to avoid any landslide. Until Friday, rescuers had tried to get oxygen and water through tubes and bottles down to Rayan.