Save Rayan: world reacts to death of Moroccan boy stuck in a well

Tragic death of 'Little Rayan' has shocked the international community following five day rescue efforts

Moroccan emergency services workers in a shaft created next to the well that Rayan fell into on February 1. AFP

Condolences poured in from around the world on Sunday for a 5-year-old Moroccan boy who died after five days at the bottom of a well despite a frantic rescue effort.

Rayan Aourram fell down the 32-metre well on Tuesday afternoon, in the small northern town of Tamorot, about 100 kilometres from the city of Chefchaouen.

The operation to save him sparked global attention and sympathy.

Authorities had cautioned that they did not know whether he was alive.

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  The parents of Rayan Aourram walk away after rescue workers retrieved his body from a deep well and placed it in an ambulance, in the village of Ighran in Morocco's Chefchaouen province. EPA

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  An ambulance drives away from the well where rescuers retrieved the body. The 5-year-old Moroccan boy who was trapped in a well for four days has died, authorities confirmed. EPA

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  The rescue effort began after Rayan fell 32 metres down a dry well on Tuesday. AFP

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  Rescue workers carry the body and place it in the ambulance. EPA

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  Rayan's body was wrapped in a yellow blanket after it was taken out through a tunnel dug specifically for the rescue. AFP

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  A member of the Moroccan emergency services in action during the rescue operation. AFP

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  Search crews first used five bulldozers to dig vertically to a depth of more than 31 metres. AFP

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  On Friday, rescuers started excavating a horizontal tunnel to reach Rayan. AFP

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  Experts in topographical engineering were called upon for help. AFP

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  A Moroccan emergency services climber surveys the site. AFP

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  People wait for word on the rescue. AFP

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  Rescuers had earlier been able to feed Rayan food and oxygen through an opening in the well, and they placed a camera on him to watch his progress. AFP

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  Hundreds of technical experts, workers, journalists, volunteers and well-wishers watched the rescue mission at the site and on live streams. AFP

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  Members of the civil defence use diggers and other equipment at the site. AFP

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  Crowds gather near the well as they anxiously wait for news on the fate of the child. AFP

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  As the well became deeper, it also narrowed to a diameter of a little more than 30 centimetres, rescue workers said. AFP

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  A woman waits for news at the site. AFP

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  The rescue operation captured attention in Morocco and around the world. AFP

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  Rescuers work against the clock to reach Rayan. AFP

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  Rescuers toiled through the night as concerns about Rayan's safety grow. AFP

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  Rescuers during the nerve-racking final stages of a marathon effort to rescue Rayan. AFP

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  Bystanders watch as the rescue attempt continues. AFP

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  The brave work of rescue workers goes on. AFP

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  Concerns about ground stability halted the rescue attempt at times. AP

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  Rayan's father said that he was touched by the outpouring of support from fellow Moroccans over his son's ordeal. AP

King Mohammed VI of Morocco expressed his condolences to Rayan’s parents in a phone call after rescuers reached Rayan's on Saturday and his death was confirmed.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, also offered condolences to the boy’s family.

“Our sincere condolences and sympathy to the family of the child Rayan and to the brotherly Moroccan nation and to all humanity that grieved for his loss,” Sheikh Mohammed said on Twitter.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, called King Mohammed VI of Morocco to offer his condolences over the death of Rayan.

“With great sorrow, I learned the news of the death of Rayan. I extended sincerest condolences to his parents, his family and the Moroccan people and I pray to Allah the Almighty to grant them patience and fortitude to bear his loss," Sheikh Mohamed said.

He also lauded the efforts made by the authorities and civil defence in Morocco to rescue the child.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Facebook: "I want to say to the family of little Rayan and to the Moroccan people that we share your pain."

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett expressed his sadness at Rayan's death.

"On behalf of the government and people of Israel, I send our sincere condolences to the family and relatives of the late child Rayan, to the brotherly Moroccan people of His Majesty King Mohammed VI," he wrote on Twitter.

Simon Martin, Britain's ambassador to Morocco, also sent condolences.

"My condolences to the family of poor young Rayan. I am so sad to hear that despite the magnificent efforts of the Moroccan emergency services it was not possible to save this courageous young boy #Rayan."

Pope Francis, while mourning the loss of Rayan, praised the "beautiful" sight of "how all the people gathered together" to try to save a child.

"The people clung together, as a whole, to save Rayan, they worked together to save a child," the pope said during his weekly blessing in St. Peter's Square. "(The rescuers) tried their best, unfortunately they did not make it," he said.

AC Milan's Algerian midfielder Ismael Bennacer shared a tweet accompanied by a drawing of a child being lifted into the sky, carried by a heart-shaped balloon marked with the colours of Morocco.

"Rayan's courage will stay in our memories and continue to inspire us," Bennacer said.

Moroccan-American novelist Laila Lalami wrote on Twitter: "We all of us had been holding out hope that little Rayan would make it. This is all so tragic."

The US Embassy in Morocco also extended condolences, after posting on Facebook earlier that it was "praying for the rescue of Rayan and his family as well as the heroes".

The rescue effort sparked an outpouring of emotion online, with a trending Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan.

“Millions of people across the world are holding their breath in the race against time to save Rayan,” one Twitter user wrote before the child's death was confirmed.

Another paid tribute to rescue workers who toiled round the clock for days, saying, “They are real-life heroes.”