Chinese toddler rescued by firefighters after falling 6 metres into narrow pit at construction site
Rescue workers had to dig to retrieve the girl after the accident in Henan province
A two-year-old girl was rescued after falling into a deep, narrow drainage pit at a construction site in northern China, according to media reports.
The toddler accidentally fell while playing at the site in Henan province and was trapped six metres below ground level, according to the People’s Daily.
Nearly a dozen firefighters and emergency services staff dug out a six-metre trench to retrieve the girl. The pit she fell into was only 36cm in diameter and had little air.
Video footage showed firefighters calling out “give me the oxygen” to other rescue workers as they attempted to retrieve the girl on Saturday.
It took about an hour to pull the girl to safety and she was immediately sent to hospital, the report said. No details were given of where in Henan province the accident happened.
Internet users in China lauded the rescuers for their efforts in saving the girl, with one writing: “Well done, heroes.”
Another commented: “Thank God. Nice work saving the young girl’s’ life!”
Half of the children in these cases were alone at the time of the accidents and the highest number of incidents happened in Henan province, the newspaper said.
Two other two-year-olds were rescued in similar incidents in Shandong province earlier this year.
One child was retrieved from a 10-metre well in March and a boy was saved in a nine-hour rescue effort after falling into a 15-metre deep well in early April.
Nearly 60,000 children die from accidents in China each year, according to figures published by the UN agency Unicef in 2015. Major causes include drowning, road accidents, falls and animal bites.
