‘The son of us all’: Morocco bids farewell to Rayan
Hundreds have gathered to mourn the passing of five-year-old Rayan Oram, following the lengthy mission to rescue him from a well he was trapped inside.
Mourners paid their respects at the Douar Zaouia cemetary near Rayan’s village of Ighrane, Chefchaouen province.
Moroccans have attended the funeral of Rayan Oram, a five-year-old boy who spent five days trapped down a well, sparking a vast rescue operation that gripped the world but ended in tragedy.
Hundreds of mourners arrived Monday to the Douar Zaouia cemetary near Rayan’s village of Ighrane, Chefchaouen province.
"I am over 50-years-old and never seen as many people in a funeral. Rayan is the son of us all," one villager said.
The child's body was taken to a military hospital in the capital Rabat, accompanied by his parents following the long rescue operation.
King Mohammed VI called the parents to voice his condolences.
The boy had fallen down a narrow, 32-metre (100-foot) dry well last Tuesday, sparking a complex earth-moving operation to try to reach him without triggering a landslide.
On Saturday night, crowds cheered as rescue workers cleared away the final handfuls of soil to reach him. But the joy turned to grief when the royal cabinet of the North African nation announced that the boy was dead.
READ MORE: Saving Rayan: Moroccan boy passes away after days-long rescue mission
#Morocco #Maroc : Thousands gather in the village where #Rayan lived in the Chefchaouen region in the Rif to pay their last respects at the funeral of the 5-year-old, whose fate gripped the country & the Arab world for 5 days until its tragic denouement #الطفل_ريان pic.twitter.com/v4V6ca0Xkc
— ARAFAT (@arafatooda) February 7, 2022
Left in shock
Rayan's father Khaled Oram said he had been repairing the well when his son fell in, close to the family home.
The shaft, just 45 centimetres (18 inches) across, was too narrow for Rayan to be reached directly, and widening it was deemed too risky, so earth movers dug a wide slope into the hill.
Rescue crews, using bulldozers and front-end loaders, excavated the surrounding red earth down to the level where the boy was trapped, before drill teams carefully dug a horizontal tunnel to reach him from the side to avoid causing a landslide.
Vast crowds came to offer their support, singing and praying to encourage the rescuers who worked around the clock.
But the boy's death left Moroccans in shock.
Social media across the Arab world were flooded with messages of support, grief, and praise for the rescue workers.
READ MORE: Morocco holds its breath as rescuers inch closer to boy trapped in well
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