The Guardia Civil and fire personnel are trying desperately to rescue a toddler who has fallen 110 metres down a well.

More than a well it is a bore shaft, too narrow for an adult to go down, so rescue efforts are hampered by this factor.

The accident occurred around 14.00h yesterday within the municipality of Totalán (near the Dolmen del Cerro de la Corona) in the province of Málaga. A family was out walking in the countryside when the parents saw their 2-year-old disappear down a hole; a water-prospection bore with a diametre of just 22cm but 150 metres deep.

Another family was close to hand and asked the couple if they were sure that the child had fallen down the bore hole and they replied that they were. Everybody moved away from the side of the hole fearing that they could dislodge lose stones that would hurtle down the narrow shaft.

Emergency services were quickly at the scene,including a mountain rescue team (EREIM) as well as the Grupo de Especialidades Subacuáticas (GEAS). Also present at the scene is a team from the Grupo de Intervención Psicológica en Emergencias y Desastres (GIPED).

At the time of the writing of this article (21.51h) rescuers had used a camera in order to discovered how the child is and how far down he had fallen. However, after twice having lowered the camera 80 metres down, there was still no sign of the child.

The problem is that when they do locate the child, the task of extracting him without causing him any injuries will be very difficult. In fact a plan of action is still in the air.

Update 09.46h: There appears to have been a subsidence 78 metres down, which is why they can’t get any further down than 78 metres with the camera. Consequently, they’re trying to remove the obstruction, bit by bit.

As the news of the accident began to spread, private companies came forward to help with specialised equipment, amongst them, Desatoros Pepe Núñez, which has provided the robot camera.

(News: Totalan, Malaga, Andalucia)