The boy was trapped in a hole with a diameter of only 25 centimeters. The accident occurred on Saturday morning at a construction site in the Mekong Delta. He called for help shortly afterwards, but had not been heard from since.
Rescue workers had pumped oxygen into the shaft in hopes of keeping the child alive. Hundreds of people, including soldiers, were involved in the rescue operation. Because the shaft is narrow, they couldn’t go down the hole to get the boy out. It was also not possible to throw down a rope, because the boy had no room to tie it around his waist.