Excavation continues to retrieve boy’s body from concrete pillar

A member of the rescue team in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap said the 12-meter segment was pulled up at around 6 p.m.

The first 12-meter segment of the concrete pillar, which was 35 meters long and 25 centimeters across, was pulled up from the ground on Monday.

Authorities are now trying to secure the remains of 10-year-old Thai Ly Hao Nam, who fell into the hollow concrete pillar on December 31 last year while he and his friends gathered scraps at a bridge construction site. His remains are expected to be recovered Thursday night, authorities reported.

Dong Thap authorities pronounced Nam dead on January 4. Provincial deputy chairman Doan Tan Buu said then that a team of medical and forensics experts concluded that the boy had died based on a variety of factors: the location of the accident, the depth of the pillar, the length of the rescue effort, and possible injuries the boy was believed to have suffered.

Rescue forces stand above the concrete pillar where 10-year-old boy Thai Ly Hao Nam had fallen into in Dong Thap Province. Photo by VnExpress/Phuoc Thanh