News / World News /
Funeral held in Morocco for five-year-old boy who was trapped in well
A funeral has taken place in Morocco for a five-year-old boy who was trapped in a well for days as rescuers struggled to reach him.
The strenuous operation drew global attention, and mourners sent messages of condolences from around the world.
Rayan was pulled out of the 105ft-deep dry well on Saturday after being trapped for five days.
People pray during Rayan's funeral (Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP) (AP)
The funeral took place after noontime prayers on Monday in Ighran, a village in Morocco's mountainous north.
The boy was laid to rest in a plot where other family members are buried at the hilltop Zawiya cemetery, four miles from the village.
Scores of mourners from around Morocco flocked to the funeral to pay their respects.
Rescuers attempted to save the boy (Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP) (AP)
In a sign of how Rayan's fate had gripped the country, King Mohammed VI followed the painstaking rescue efforts closely, and expressed his condolences to the boy's parents in a statement released by the palace over the weekend.
Workers have now started filing in the massive hole and tunnel that they dug to try to rescue him.
The exact circumstances of how the boy fell in the well are unclear.
MoroccoRescueAP
news 8 hours ago