Boy, 10, dies after falling into 115-foot concrete pillar

A 10-year-old Vietnamese boy who fell into the narrow open shaft of a 115-foot concrete pillar at a construction site on New Year’s Eve has died.

Rescuers spent nearly 100 hours trying to rescue Ly Hao Nam from the bridge support pillar driven into the ground, but without success, online newspaper VnExpress cited a local government official as saying.

“The authorities have determined that the victim has died and are trying to recover his body for the funeral,” deputy chairman of the southern province of Dong Thap, Doan Tan Buu, was quoted as saying.

Nam was heard crying for help shortly after he fell into the hollow pillar, which has a diameter of just 10 inches, Saturday at a bridge construction site in the Mekong delta province where he had been searching for scrap iron with friends.

More than 200 rescuers armed with special equipment have tried softening the ground and removing mud to try and pull the pillar out, but to no avail.

Oxygen was pumped into the shaft and water was supplied to the boy, but there was no sign that he drank any.

When rescuers lowered a camera into the shaft Monday, they received no response from Nam.

Buu said that the 10-year-old had suffered multiple injuries and did not have enough oxygen, making his rescue “impossible,” reported BBC News.

Earlier Wednesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had urged the rescuers and local authorities to mobilize all equipment and forces needed to free the boy, the government said.

With Post wires