Morocco holds funeral for boy who died in well

Morocco is holding a funeral for “little Rayan”, a five-year-old boy who died after being trapped in a well for four days.

Rayan Oram fell down the 32m (104ft) well on 1 February, sparking painstaking efforts to rescue him.

Hundreds gathered at the well, with the rescue efforts garnering media attention worldwide.

His funeral is taking place on Monday in his village in the northern Rif mountains where the tragedy unfolded.

“The silence is terrible this morning in the village,” a relative told the AFP news agency.

When the boy was finally pulled from the well on Saturday evening, his apparent rescue was initially met with cheers from the crowds.

But this turned to heartbreak minutes later when it was announced that the rescue was too late, and Rayan had died.

The rescue mission had been watched across the world – and soon after death was announced, tributes poured in.

On social media, where the hashtag #SaveRayan had been trending, people expressed their sympathy and sadness.

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI called the parents of the boy and offered them his deepest condolences.

Pope Francis, while expressing his sadness, praised the “beautiful” way people had “worked together to save a child”.

Players and fans at Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final in Cameroon held a moment’s silence in tribute to Rayan.

Rayan’s father, Khaled Aourram, had been preparing the well when the boy fell in.

The mixture of rocky and sandy soils at the site meant rescuers deemed opening the water well’s narrow shaft to be too dangerous.

Instead, bulldozers were used to cut a huge trench next to the well.

Rescuers tried to get oxygen, food and water to the boy, but it was unclear whether he was able to use them.

Footage on Thursday from a camera lowered into the well showed that the boy was alive and conscious, but there were no updates on his condition after that.

“We thank His Majesty the King, the authorities and all those who have helped us,” his father said on Saturday evening. “Praise God, have mercy on the dead.”

bbc.com