Hope fades as little Sajid remains trapped in borehole for 31 hours

The sun has now set twice over Koelhat village in Rajshahi, but two-year-old Sajid remains missing somewhere beneath the earth.

More than 31 hours after he slipped into the borehole of an abandoned deep tube-well, rescuers say the chances of finding him alive are “slim” but the village has not stopped hoping.

What began as a quiet Wednesday noon turned into a nightmare that refuses to end.

A mother’s unending call

On Thursday evening, Runa Khatun sat only a few feet from the gaping hole, clutching the edge of her saree with trembling hands. Her eyes never left the muddy pit where she last heard her son’s faint cry: “Ma…”

“He was holding my hand,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “I looked away for a second… then I heard him calling from inside the hole.”

Her words break mid-sentence as she points to the spot where straw had been spread to cover the abandoned tube well. Neither she nor her child realised what lay beneath.

“I stepped on it… and he just slipped through. My baby went straight down.”

Villagers rushed in, pulling at the soil with their bare hands before the fire service arrived, but the pipe was too narrow, too deep – a vertical shaft reaching possibly 150 to 200 feet.

Desperate search, frustrating silence

Three fire service units began the rescue operation. Cameras were lowered. Torches were pressed in. Shouts were sent down the pipe, hoping for a reply.

Nothing came back.

Firefighters first searched 35 feet using a charge-vision camera. When they found no sign, excavators dug through the night to create a parallel 35-foot hole, then a tunnel towards the tube well. Again, the tunnel revealed nothing.

On Thursday morning, cameras were lowered deeper. The screen showed only soil, packed tightly.

“Now we have reached 45 feet. We are trying every method,” said Didarul Alam, Assistant Director of the Fire Service. “But the possibility of the child being alive is slim.”

Still, he insisted the operation would continue until Sajid is found.

‘There is no technology for this’

Lieutenant Colonel Tajul Islam Chowdhury, Director of Operations at Fire Service and Civil Defence, surveyed the site with a grim expression earlier in the afternoon.

“There is no technology anywhere in the world that can rescue someone instantly from such depth,” he said. “Even in developed countries, it takes 75-78 hours to reach 200 feet safely.”

His words gripped the crowd with a painful silence.

A village standing still

Hundreds of people have gathered on the narrow village path, some praying with raised hands, others murmuring Surahs under their breath. Children who usually play around the fields are crowded quietly behind the bamboo fence, watching the heavy machines dig deeper into the night.

Women from nearby homes have brought water, biscuits and towels for the exhausted firefighters. The local mosque announced special prayers for Sajid.

Even the wind carries a certain weight – a mix of fear, hope, and helplessness.

A father’s long journey

Sajid’s father, Mohammad Rakib, works in an apparel waste processing factory in Gazipur. He travelled overnight after receiving the call that no parent wants.

“I still haven’t seen my son,” he said, standing with red, sleepless eyes. “I don’t know if he is alive. Allah knows best. I have left him in Allah’s care.”

He tries to speak more but stops, covering his face with both hands.

Officials on standby

The upazila administration, health workers and police are stationed at the scene. A medical team is prepared to give immediate treatment if Sajid is found alive – even though officials quietly acknowledge that hope is fading.

“We are giving top priority to this rescue,” said UNO Naima Khan. “But we still cannot confirm the child’s whereabouts.”

A family in fear

Sajid is the middle child of three brothers. His elder brother, Sadman, keeps asking everyone, “Has Sajid been found yet?”

His infant brother, Sabbir, only three months old, sleeps in their mother’s arms, unaware of the tragedy unfolding around him.

Still digging, still waiting

The rescuers continue digging, inch by inch, knowing that time is slipping away. The heavy machines roar on, their lights piercing the darkness.

But the only sound that matters is missing – the voice of the little boy who called “mother” before disappearing into the earth.

As another night falls over Koelhat, the rescue continues, and a village prays not for news – but for a miracle.