Authorities spent the past three days working on multiple plans to get to the boy. They’re trying to determine whether they can safely widen the hole to let a robot or, possibly, a rescuer go deeper, Pilar Limon, a spokesman for the Emergencies Coordination Unit, told NBC News. Authorities are also trying to determine whether they can dig a tunnel that intersects the well.<doc-sep>TOTALÁN, Spain — Rescuers in southern Spain began drilling on Saturday in hopes of rescuing a 2-year-old boy trapped in a deep well for six days. The mission to save the child has triggered an outpouring of public support as rescuers struggle with the challenge of bringing heavy equipment up steep access roads and reaching the toddler safely. “We are incredibly motivated to reach him as soon as possible. We’re not bothered by the hours, the tiredness or the lack of sleep," Angel Vidal, the lead engineer overseeing the rescue, said on Saturday. "We are hopeful that we will reach him as soon as possible and bring him back to his parents,” he added. The boy, Julen, fell into the borehole, which is just 25 cm (10 inches) wide and 100 meters (yards) deep, as his family walked through a private estate in Totalán, Málaga. A worker directs a pipe as part of excavation works to rescue two-year old boy Julen, who is believed to be trapped inside a well, in the village of Totalan, Malaga, southern Spain on Jan. 19, 2019. Daniel Perez / EPA Officials have been unable to find signs of life but say they are working on the basis that the child is still alive. Video footage shot by firefighters and released by Spanish broadcaster Canal Sur shows a blockage around 70 meters into the well which has prevented rescue services from sending food or water to the child. Trucks brought drilling equipment and giant pipes to the site on Friday. Drilling of the first of two tunnels that will be made to reach the boy began at around 3 p.m. local time and will take around 15 hours, officials said. Once the first tunnel is completed, rescuers will begin working by hand to construct a second shorter tunnel to reach the area where the boy is trapped, which will take a further 20 hours. Residents of the town have held vigils for Julen and in support of his family. Spanish media say the boy's parents suffered another tragedy in 2017 when their three-year-old son died suddenly of health problems while walking along a beach. "Be strong, Julen. Totalán is with you," read a handmade banner hung on the roadside near the rescue site. "We are living some incredibly difficult hours for relatives, friends and neighbors (of the family) and we want to send them our support in this moment," government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa said on Friday in a news conference. (Reporting by Miguel Pereira; writing by Sam Edwards; editing by Jason Neely)<doc-sep>Rescuers are using explosives to help them reach the space where it is believed a two-year-old boy who fell down a narrow well in Malaga is trapped. Julen Rosello fell into the borehole after he walked away from his family on a private estate in Totalan, southern Spain on January 13. Rescue experts have now resorted to using explosives to break through the 10ft wall of hard rock separating rescuers from the narrow shaft where it is thought the toddler is trapped. Rescuers searching for a two-year-old boy who fell down a narrow well in Malaga are using explosives to reach the space where he's thought to be stuck (pictured, the rescue site today) There have been no signs of life since Julen fell into the well aside from a few strands of his hair and the bag of sweets he was carrying More than 100 workers spent 11 days sinking a 300ft relief shaft beside the original well after the toddler disappeared 12 days ago. Rescue experts, lowered into the new shaft in a capsule, yesterday completed the first 3ft of a horizontal tunnel as they looked to bridge the 13ft gap. The government's office in the southern province of Malaga said today it had taken around 16 hours to dig through the first half. There have been no signs of life since Julen fell into the well aside from a few strands of his hair and the bag of sweets he was carrying. Officials have refused to comment on whether or not the toddler could have survived for this long. So far, the rescue bid has cost £500,000, but authorities are determined to find the boy and bring him back to the surface in a rescue mission that has gripped Spain. Julen Rosello, pictured, fell into the bore hole while out with his family near Totalan The rescuers are being lowered to the bottom of the shaft in this cage before beginning the delicate task of tunnelling into the borehole and hopefully finding Julen Alfonso Celis, regional government representative, said on Wednesday: 'Members of the Mines Rescue Brigade sent from Asturias (region) have just accessed the vertical well to start excavation in the search for Julen.' Miners working in rotating shifts will dig a four-metre passage with picks, pneumatic hammers and explosives from the bottom of the shaft towards the borehole, which is 300ft deep and just 10ins wide. Teams equipped with oxygen masks will work for 40 minutes each in conditions so tight they can only dig kneeling or lying down. The process of crossing the divide between the two shafts could take up to 24 hours, emergency services chief, Ángel García Vidal, has said. Meanwhile children and families have been holding candlelight vigils across Spain in support of the missing boy and of the massive rescue operation, even as hopes of finding him alive have faded with each passing day. Julen's parents, Jose Rosello (in the grey coat) and Vicky Garcia (wearing a yellow scarf), pictured, have been keeping a vigil awaiting news of their missing son Rescuers have spent 11 days sinking a 300-ft shaft beside a bore hole where 2-year-old Julen fell on January 13. It is understood the rescuers are going to use a capsule in the rescue attempt The baby fell into this 15-inch wide borehole on the estate on the outskirts of Malaga Teams of two rescuers are currently trying to dig a 13ft tunnel between the relief shaft and the borehole in the hope of rescuing Julen Rosello Julen's mother and father, both 29, held each other tightly as they attended a vigil a few minutes from the scene last night. According to Bild, some 300 people also gathered there. One of those present, Juan José Cortés, was heard praying 'for God to do this miracle and give power to the miners, Julen and his parents.' Cortés' own five-year-old daughter was found murdered ten years ago after weeks of searching and he has been supporting Julen's family. Engineers and miners have worked for ten days in a row but have run into various technical problems while drilling a shaft parallel to the well. Juan Lopez Escobar, one of the engineers in charge of the rescue operation said: 'No miner is left in a mine, and Julen is now considered a miner. Whatever may have happened, a miner is always pulled out.' He told reporters earlier that digging the horizontal passage would be the most dangerous part of the effort. Julen's parents suffered another tragedy in 2017 when their three-year-old son died suddenly after suffering a cardiac arrest while walking along a beach. Members of the public have been holding vigils across Spain praying for Julen Dozens of people have worked in shifts around the clock to rescue Julen from the shaft<doc-sep>
Emergency workers frantically dug a tunnel Tuesday as they tried to rescue a toddler trapped down a deep, narrow well in Spain. The two-year-old boy, whose first name is Yulen, fell down the hole on Sunday. More than 100 rescuers including firefighters, police officers and underwater teams were at the site in Totalán, a town in the southern province of Málaga. A specialist mine rescue team was en route to the scene on Tuesday afternoon. The well is 360 feet deep and only about 10 inches wide, according to Bernardo Moltó, a spokesman for the Málaga Civil Guard. The two-year-old boy fell into the hole on Sunday. Malaga Fire brigades / EPA On Monday, crews sent a robotic camera into the well. It made it 229 feet below the surface, where it found some candies the boy had been carrying. However, the width of the passage prevented the device from going any further. Rescue workers were attempting to widen the passage to allow the camera to go deeper, Pilar Limon, a spokesperson for the Emergencies Coordination Unit, told NBC News. Teams were concentrating their efforts on securing an alternative rescue route by digging a tunnel that would intersect the well, according to Maria Galvez, a Málaga government official at the site. However, workers needed to proceed carefully to prevent an internal collapse within the well. The search for the boy is taking place in a mountainous area near the town of Totalan, Spain. Gregorio Marrero / AP Yulen’s parents Vicky and Jose Garcia were waiting at the surface and were being assisted by a group of trauma experts and psychologists. The well was dug about a month before the boy fell in, according to local media. Moltó said it's unclear if had been marked in any way.