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Rescuers battle tough conditions to reach Spanish boy stuck in borehole

The two-year-old fell into the narrow, deep borehole in the countryside in Malaga eight days ago.

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Drill machines and excavating machinery work on top of a mountain next to a deep borehole to reach a two-year-old boy trapped near the town of Totalan in Malaga

Rescuers are making slow progress in exceptionally difficult conditions trying to reach a two-year-old boy who fell into a narrow, deep borehole in the countryside eight days ago, Spanish officials said.

Angel Garcia, the leading engineer co-ordinating the search and rescue operation, said work had to stop briefly early on Monday to perform maintenance on a drill being used to create a vertical shaft.

Mr Garcia said the rocks are extremely hard and the drill has been working non-stop for many hours at the site near the town of Totalan in Malaga.

Drill machines and excavating machinery work on top of the mountain, top left, next to a deep borehole to reach a two-year-old boy trapped near the town of Totalan in Malaga
Drill machines and excavating machinery on top of the mountain near Totalan (Gregorio Marrero/AP)

The shaft runs parallel to the borehole and aims to go down 60 metres (197ft) – roughly to where the boy is believed to be.

The drill has so far reached 53 metres.

After that, miners will be lowered down the shaft to dig a horizontal tunnel to the boy’s presumed location.

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