Jihad pulled out dead

FE Report

The unconscious body of Jihad, the minor boy who fell into a deep well at Shahjahanpur in the capital on Friday, was recovered on Saturday by locals.

He was recovered just minutes after the fire brigade declared their 23-hour rescue operation abandoned at 3:00 pm.  

Jihad was brought to emergency of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) at 3:30 pm. However, a DMCH medial board declared him dead at about 4:00 pm after examining him for 15-20 minutes. The doctors declared the boy dead in a press conference, hours after he was rescued from an abandoned water pump pipe at Shahjahanpur Railway Colony.  

"Jihad died some hours back before being taken to us (DMCH). We tried our best. He is dead," said Dr K M Niaz Morshed told the media.     

He said there were marks of injuries in his body. "We could say details about his death after post-mortem," he said.

The issues regarding Jihad's namaz-e-janaja and burial were not decided, as handover of his dead body to his parents by DMCH was not done till filling of the report at 8:00 pm.

Jihad fell into a nearly six-hundred feet abandoned water well of 17-inch diametere in the city's Shahjahanpur Railway Colony area at 3:30 pm on Friday while playing with his friends. Locals said the well has been abandoned over the last one year.

After the incident the friends informed his parents. Subsequently, a Fire Service and Civil Defense (FSCD) team rushed to the spot, and started rescue operation at 4:00 pm.

Three volunteers made the recovery hours after an announcement by State Minister for Home Asaduzaman Khan Kamal and FSCD Director General (DG) Brigadier General Ali Ahmed Khan that no human being was found in the shaft.

The volunteers, who worked at the collapsed Rana Plaza, used a locally-developed metal-rod cage to pull the child.

However, local people vented their anger over the 'slow move' of the authorities concerned to rescue Jihad. They said he could have been saved, if the rescue team had taken prompt steps.

Soon after the recovery of Jihad's body they demonstrated against the state minister for home affairs and FSCD officials. They chanted slogans and carried placards, demanding justice, and threw brickbats to the police. The aggrieved people also went on rampage at nearby Railway Super Market.

The law-enforcers charged batons on them and brought the situation under control. Additional police personnel were deployed in the area. The well was sealed off.

Earlier, joint director of National Security Intelligence (NSI) Abu Sayeed Raihan termed the news of Jihad's falling into the well as 'rumour', after seeing images sent by Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) camera.

In the morning, the rescuers tried to send a special cage the bottom of the well in a bid to pull out the minor boy, trapped inside the well shaft. A camera was also attached with the case, made with iron rods.

Despite their repeated efforts, the fire-fighters, who had been conducting rescue operation since Friday, failed to send the "catcher" till the bottom till 11:00 am on Saturday.

They employed various techniques one after another, including lowering in a sack tied with a rope, hoping to pull out the boy, but failed.

talhabinhabib@yahoo.com