Epic rescue operation that lasted for days captivated audiences globally
King of Morocco Mohammed VI has expressed his condolences by phone to the bereaved parents of a five-year-old boy, who fell into a 32-meter-deep (104ft) well earlier this week. The child died before rescuers could reach him on Saturday evening.
The drama, which captivated audiences both in the North African nation and abroad, began on Tuesday when Rayan Awram’s parents found their son trapped in a narrow shaft, and contacted authorities. Rayan’s father later told local media that he was repairing the well at the time and “took his eyes off” his son for a moment before the accident occurred.
Two rescue groups, including topographical engineers, took turns to work around the clock to save the boy. Five bulldozers were initially used to dig a vertical opening alongside the well. On Friday, rescuers set about digging a side tunnel to reach Rayan.
Their efforts were hindered by the unstable nature of the soil at the location.
While the operation was underway, rescuers managed to send some food and water down the well using a tube. However, it was not clear if the boy was actually able to consume them.
A huge crowd of journalists, volunteers and onlookers had gathered around the site, with rescue efforts being live-streamed.
On Thursday, rescuers lowered a camera into the shaft, and at that point Rayan was still alive and conscious.
The hashtag #SaveRayan in Arabic and English gained momentum on social media, with world leaders and ordinary people alike wishing the Moroccan boy well.
On Saturday morning, the head of the rescue committee, Abdelhadi Temrani, stated that it was not “possible to determine the child’s condition at all at this time.” According to him, rescuers had just two more meters to dig; however, they had to proceed with caution for fear of landslides.
Rayan had spent more than four days in the well before rescuers managed to retrieve his lifeless body on Saturday. The boy had reportedly suffered from brain and lung trauma, as well as multiple fractures.
Distraught rescue workers and onlookers got emotional when it became clear that the boy had not made it out alive.
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Despite technical issues, GoFundMe competitor GiveSendGo has managed to raise over $1 million in just 12 hours
Christian fundraising website GiveSendGo has blamed“heavy DDoS and bot attacks” for server downtime after taking over raising cash for the Canadian trucker convoy on Friday. The platform began raising funds for the truckers protesting against Covid-19 vaccine passports and mandates on Friday after its better-known competitor GoFundMe froze the Freedom Convoy’s account with $7 million in donations.
Popular alternative video platform Rumble has offered technical help to GiveSendGo. “We are hearing, but have not validated, that GiveSendGo is experiencing server issues and a possible denial of service attack,” Rumble said in a tweet. “If true, Rumble would be happy to help in anyway we can. We have equipment and engineers on standby, please feel free to reach out.”
We are hearing, but have not validated, that @GiveSendGo is experiencing server issues and a possible denial of service attack.
If true, Rumble would be happy to help in anyway we can. We have equipment and engineers on standby, please feel free to reach out.
The site, which has been offline intermittently since re-launching the campaign on Friday, nevertheless boasted it was able to raise funds for the convoy five times faster than GoFundMe, citing $1.1 million raised in “just over 12 hours” in a tweet posted Saturday morning.
We have been under heavy DDOS and bot attacks. In spite of all of this we still have managed to raise funds 5X faster than the gfm did. GFM raised 10mil in 3 weeks. GSG campaign has already raised over 1.1mil in just over 12 hours!
The Freedom Convoy 2022 campaign on GiveSendGo has named $16 million as its fundraising goal. In a video posted on the campaign page, organizer Tamara Lich pledged that the convoy was planning to “be here for the long haul, as long as it takes to make sure your rights and freedoms are restored.”
The money has continued to flow in despite connectivity issues, with over $1.35 million raised as of Saturday afternoon. According to the campaign page, donations will go to the cost of fuel first, and then to food and lodging. A crew of volunteers has been carrying jerry-cans of fuel to the truckers, who must heat their trucks even when the convoy isn’t moving, and some temporary shelters have been built to store fuel, food and water along the roads.
GoFundMe shut down the convoy’s campaign on Friday after releasing just $1 million of over $8 million raised for the cause. While it had initially threatened to donate the massive sum to charities it considers to be “credible and established,” the company later opted to automatically refund donations after it was threatened with a fraud investigation by the state of Florida.
