Boy recued from pit; taken to hospital

Katni, MP, Feb 5 (UNI) Refreshing memories of Kurukshetra's Prince, a one-and-a-half-year-old boy was rescued in the early hours today after he fell into a 60-foot pit near this district's Dhoreshwar village, 45 km from here, police said.

Authorities initially gave the child's age as three years but later clarified it.

The 12-hour rescue effort by municipal officials, fire brigade personnel, locals and private-sector marble company officials led to success at 0330 hrs.

Rajendra Kushwaha's son, Amit, fell into the sack-covered pit, being sunk for a borewell, in his uncle's farm near the village, at 1630 hrs yesterday while playing and got stuck at a depth of 20 ft.

A closed circuit camera was used to monitor the situation and oxygen supply was also arranged but not food and water.

''Machines were used to dig a roughly 25-ft-deep crater parallel to the pit. A perpendicular connecting tunnel (four ft) was subsequently created (in two hours). Amit is in healthy condition but has been kept in the district hospital's intensive care unit as a precautionary measure,'' District Collector Anupam Rajan said.

Mr Rajan, Additional Superintendent of Police Purushottam Sharma and other officials were at the spot, besides a team of doctors.

The Jabalpur district administration had been requested to seek Army assistance but the rescue was eventually accomplished without military assistance.

At the hospital, Amit was fed by his mother. He is the youngest of three children including an eight-year-old son and five-year-old daughter.

UNI