Rescue or fiasco?

Could Jihad have been rescued alive had the authorities been a little more serious about pulling him up? This question was in the air since the recovery of his body yesterday afternoon.

Venting grievances at State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and Fire Service officials for doubting Jihad's presence inside the well after a borehole camera's failure to locate the kid, relatives and neighbours believe the four-year-old could have been saved “had the rescuers not wasted time”.

Around 6:00pm Friday, approximately two hours after the kid fell into the shaft, there was hope of rescuing the child alive when television channels reported quoting a young rescuer that the kid responded to his call.

A rope was dispatched so that the child could hold on to it while the rescuers would pull him out. Some firefighters told The Daily Star that the kid held the rope but failed to hold on to it.

Rescuers sent juice and torch light and pumped oxygen to help the kid breathe. The juice and torch came back, said firefighters.

There was varying information about how deep the well was, with some officials saying it was 300 feet, some saying 400 feet while some others over 600 feet.

Major AKM Shakil Newaz, director operations of Fire Service, told journalists around 8:45pm that the boy was believed to be stuck 400-foot deep inside the well. But State Minister Kamal told Ekattor TV over the phone around 12:30am yesterday that they were not sure about his position.

Rescuers later decided to send a specialised tool named “catcher” to pull Jihad but changed decision and opted to send a high-tech borehole camera to take a look inside first.

Sent in twice after 1:30am yesterday, the camera yielded only images of gunny sack or cock sheet and gecko and failed to go beyond 254.27 feet.

Around 2:45am, Abu Sayeed Raihan, joint director of National Security Intelligence, said the news of Jihad's falling in the shaft could be a rumour since the camera didn't see any human being there.

Live telecast showed some locals protesting him, inquiring him of his identity and advising him not to say so since he was no expert on this.

It was within minutes that State Minister Asaduzzaman Kamal told the media: “From what we have seen from the camera dispatches, we can say there is no one there.”

The Fire Service DG also echoed the minister expressing doubt about Jihad's staying inside. But it is he who told Ekattor TV at 1:45am that the rescuers had recorded the kid's last response two and a half hours back.

The DG said firefighters were not wrapping up operation and that they would remove the debris and search for the kid. But no visible action was seen later by his force in this regard until volunteers recovered Jahid's body.

Frustrated at Dhaka Wasa's taking back their camera immediately and fire fighters stepping aside from the shaft, many locals who gathered there questioned why experts from the army were not called in.

Journalists, who were visibly causing disturbances since the beginning of the rescue operation by bugging rescuers with series of questions, rushed to take footages then.

All through the operation, some TV channels delivered insensitive comments about the possibility of Jihad's remaining alive, with some insisting that there was little chance for this.

After the fire fighters moved away, some volunteers scrambled another camera to send down the shaft around 3:30am. It got obstructed again near the debris.

Later, volunteers from different areas tried several tools to rescue Jihad with help from a group of fire fighters who remained stationed there though making no attempts on their own.

While postponing their operation at 2:45pm, the Fire Service DG said experts had not found sign of any human body after examining the photos and videos.

When journalists pointed out to the rescuers' claim of hearing child's response from inside the well Friday evening, he said the pipe was deep and there could be echo.

Fifteen minutes after postponement of their operation, volunteers proved them wrong by pulling the kid out with a locally made cage.

This sparked angry protests by locals, who questioned the authorities' sincerity and vandalised several tin-roofed establishments in the area.

“Had the state minister for home and others conducted the rescue effort sincerely instead of issuing conflicting statements, I could have got back my son alive,” Jihad's mother Khadiza Begum wailed after doctors confirmed death of the kid.

Meanwhile, shortly after Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Benazir Ahmed said around 2:30am yesterday that police would probe whether the news of Jihad's fall was a hoax.