Two-Year-Old Sazid Dies After 30-Hour Shaft Ordeal

Two-year-old Sazid, who had been trapped in a narrow shaft in Rajshahi's Tanore upazila for over 30 agonizing hours, was tragically pronounced dead.

Sazid, a two-year-old boy. Koel Hat Purbo Para village in Panchandar union, Tanore upazila, Rajshahi. Around 1:00 PM on Wednesday. Around 9:30 PM the following day, after a round-the-clock operation. Confirmed by Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner Afia Akhtar at 10:15 PM; doctors at Tanore Upazila Health Complex pronounced him dead shortly after arrival.

An abandoned groundwater-test shaft, estimated to be about 30 feet deep. The shaft repeatedly collapsed and merged with surrounding soil during rescue efforts.

Eight units of Fire Service and Civil Defence were deployed, led by Director (Operations) Lt Col Tajul Islam Chowdhury. Rescuers dug a parallel pit, but the soil repeatedly collapsed.

The presence of a pond only 8–10 feet from the shaft made excavation riskier and slowed efforts, according to Fire Service Rajshahi division Deputy Director Monzil Haque. Rescue workers had inserted a six-inch plastic pipe approximately 35 feet down the shaft to mark its position.

Sazid's mother, Runa Khatun, stated the accident happened around noon when a soil-laden trolley sank nearby. While walking with her child toward the spot, Sazid slipped into the opening, screaming "Ma!" His mother initially thought he had fallen into the pond but then heard his faint cries coming from the shaft.

Hundreds of villagers gathered at the scene, refusing to leave and holding onto hope for a successful rescue. The devastating incident has highlighted the danger posed by several similar uncovered and abandoned groundwater-test shafts in the area, which locals attribute to remnants of tube-well installation work.