Spanish rescuers work to find 2-year-old boy who fell into well

Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Spanish rescuers were trying for a second day to find a 2-year old boy who fell down a water prospecting-well estimated to be 360 feet deep.

The boy was playing in a field with another boy while his family prepared paella when he fell. A relative saw the accident.

The well's opening is barely 10 inches in diameter.

At least 100 police, firefighters and others were working to reach Julen, who fell down the well about 2 p.m. Sunday on private land in Totalan, in Malaga province, La Opinion de Malaga daily reported Monday.

The search had turned up a candy bag and a plastic cup at a depth of about 262 feet, confirming that the boy fell in.

It's a complex rescue. Part of the well might have collapsed and it could hold water at the bottom.

The Triben company, which drilled the well a month ago, said it is 360 feet deep.

More than 24 hours after the boy fell, police said rescuers had not been able to see him, Diario Sur reported.

Authorities contemplate drilling a parallel well, or removing earth with machinery, but the well lacks concrete protection and could collapse, Diario Sur said. Heavy machinery is in the area.

Julen's older brother died at the age of three in 2017 during a family walk in a nearby beach, because of a heart attack, Diario Sur said.