“Following the tragic accident which cost the life of the child Rayan Oram, His Majesty King Mohammed VI called the parents of the deceased, who died after falling into a well”, specifies a press release.
Shortly before 10:00 p.m., AFP journalists saw the father and mother, their faces defeated, entering a tunnel dug by rescuers and communicating with the well, from which the child was later released. . They came out shortly after and drove off in an ambulance, without saying a word, the mother riding up front, her eyes staring into space.
After a moment of confusion, the crowd, gathered for days, then dispersed in mournful silence.
A risky rescue
Little Rayan accidentally fell on Tuesday into the dry, narrow and difficult to access well dug near the family residence in the village of Ighrane, in the province of Chefchaouen, in the north of the kingdom.
Entering a horizontal breach on Saturday afternoon, the rescuers, accompanied by a medical team, tried to help him. The operation was progressing manually “with great caution to avoid vibrations which can cause landslides”. An ambulance, with the child’s parents, was parked near the crash site. A medical helicopter was also on standby.
On images sent by an inspection camera, the child had “appeared lying on his side, from behind” but it was then “impossible to say that he is alive with certainty”, explained Saturday morning a head rescuer, Abdelhadi Tamrani.
Thousands of sympathizers have come in recent days as a sign of solidarity and camped on the spot, in this mountainous area of the Rif, at nearly 700 meters above sea level. Metal barriers have been set up since Friday to contain the crowd, also framed by a large device of auxiliary forces.