At noon of December 31, 2022, Thai Ly Hao Nam and three of his neighbors went to a bridge construction site on Provincial Road 857 in Phu Loi Commune to get some pieces of iron. The 10-year-old boy was walking when he fell into a hollow concrete pillar that was 25 centimeters in diameter and about 35 meters deep, where he was trapped.
The group of rescuers drilled to cut into the concrete to widen the pit by about 10 meters so that cranes could lift the concrete pillar.
Around 2 a.m., workers use a crane to pull the pillar out of the ground. This is also the crane that was used to push the pillar into the ground in the first place. Workers said that because the pillar was stuck in the ground, it would take 10–20 times more force to pull it up.
The opening of the hollow pillar where the victim had fallen is shielded to prevent soil and rocks from falling into it. Two officers were on duty to check and hold the oxygen transmission pipe running under the concrete pile while others attempt to dig a pit on the outside.
The same kind of concrete pillar that the boy fell into.
"No one imagined a youngster could get trapped so far inside the pillar because the space within is only as wide as an adult's hand," a rescuer said.
A constant supply of oxygen cylinders was brought to the scene. Each cylinder is used for around an hour, and almost 20 10-kilogram cylinders were changed after 18 hours of the attempt to rescue the boy. A constant supply of oxygen cylinders are made to the scene.
The fire and police departments in Dong Thap Province mobilize dozens of rescuers to cooperate with functional forces. Some of them nap to regain their strength after working for many hours.
According to Le Hoang Bao, director of Dong Thap Department of Transportation, after digging deep and widening the crater large enough, the rescue crew used a 50-ton crane to haul the pillar up.
However, owing to high pressure and friction, the crane's pulling power had to be 10-20 times more than the force utilized while pushing the pillar into the ground.
The boy's father, Thai Tan Tai (right) at the rescue site.
Tai panicked when he heard the news Saturday afternoon and went to the spot, only to hear his son pleading for help from the pit. He then didn't hear anything more for around 10 minutes.
He comes from a poor household, and both he and his wife are workers.
The rescue scene on the morning of January 1, 2023.
The concrete column was scheduled to be pulled up at 10 a.m., according to rescuers.
"The concrete pipe is too narrow for rescuers to tell where the boy is at any point along the pipe. It is also impossible to determine the victim's health status," Tran Van Gioi, deputy captain of the local fire and rescue police department, said.
