Borewell rescue: Officer says trapped person not a child

New Delhi: Sharing details of the ongoing borewell rescue operation in Delhi's Keshopur area on Sunday, station officer, Rani Jhansi Road, said the person who fell into the borewell wasn't a minor as was assumed earlier but an adult of between 15 to 20 years of age.
Speaking to reporters amid the ongoing rescue operation, the station officer said, "It wasn't a small child as was assumed earlier. The person who fell into the borewell is about 15 to 20 years of age. The NDRF can provide more detailed information about the rescue operation. We don't have much else to share."
"Being an adult, I doubt if the person fell into the borewell accidentally," he added.
Singh said that the rescue operation was likely to span several hours.
"This is a 12-inch borewell with iron pipes and someone is trapped inside. It is 40 feet deep. It will take several hours to rescue the person who fell into it," Singh said.
He informed further that though the borewell is owned by the Delhi Jal Board, the spot where the incident took place falls outside its jurisdiction.
The circumstances surrounding the person's fall into the borewell remain unclear at this moment, Singh added.
He said a more accurate account of the incident could be given only after a thorough investigation.
Further details are awaited.
Earlier in the day the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) claimed that a child fell into a borewell, about 40-50 feet deep, inside the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) plant in the Keshopur Mandi area.
Teams from the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and Delhi Police were on-site, spearheading the rescue operation, at the time of filing this report.
According to rescue personnel, five fire tenders were rushed to the spot after word of the incident was received.
The NDRF rescue team on site is being led by Inspector-in-Charge Veer Pratap Singh.
Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "We will soon mount a rescue operation by digging a borewell parallel to the one where the child fell. However, it could be a long-drawn operation."