A two-year-old boy who fell into a 30–35 ft borehole in Rajshahi’s Tanore upazila has still not been rescued even 20 hours after the incident, despite continuous efforts by the Fire Service.

Firefighters have already dug a parallel shaft around 40 ft deep using three excavators and have been tunnelling horizontally since early Thursday in an attempt to reach the original narrow borehole. Oxygen is being supplied nonstop to keep the child alive, but as of 9am Thursday, he had not been found.

Speaking in the morning, Didarul Alam, assistant director of the Fire Service’s Rajshahi division, said the mouth of the borehole is only eight inches wide.

“We dug down 40 ft and are now creating a tunnel to reach the main bore. We hope to get close to the child through that. Oxygen supply is ongoing. But the child has not yet been rescued,” he said.

The child, Sajid, slipped into the abandoned borehole around 1pm on Wednesday while walking with his mother across a harvested paddy field. Sajid is the son of Raki­bul Islam of Koelhat Purbo Para village. Rakibul works as a manager at a jute mill in Dhaka.

Fire Service units launched the rescue after being alerted around 2:30pm. Oxygen was supplied through a pipe immediately to keep the child breathing.

Didarul Alam said they initially found that locals, while trying to help, had accidentally pushed some soil into the borehole.

“Until around 4pm, we were getting responses from the child. But as more people gathered, the noise made it difficult to hear anything. Our teams are still trying their best to retrieve him safely,” he added.

Sajid’s mother, Runa Khatun, said she was holding her younger child and walking with Sajid when she suddenly heard him cry out. Turning around, she realised he had disappeared and was calling out “Ma, Ma” from inside the hole. The borehole had been covered with straw, making it difficult to notice.

Locals rushed to the spot, but Sajid slid further down before they could reach him. Since then, the rescue operation has been underway.

Hundreds of villagers gathered at the site to watch the rescue efforts. To maintain order, police have cordoned off the area with rope, said Tanore Police Station OC Md Shahinuzzaman.

According to police and local sources, groundwater levels in the Pachandar union have dropped significantly, prompting restrictions on installing deep tube wells. Kachir Uddin, a local landowner, had attempted to install a deep tube well a year ago and dug the borehole. When no water was found, he abandoned and filled it. But monsoon rains caused the soil to sink, reopening the hole — into which the child eventually fell.