Lucknow: A nine-year-old boy, who was trapped in a 50 feet deep borewell in an Uttar Pradesh village, died early Sunday despite efforts to rescue him, officials said.

Puneet fell into the open borewell in Kanauj district's Banwar Gara village while playing Saturday evening. He could not cry out for help as he had a speaking disability, which led to a delay in rescue operations. His body was recovered at around 8 a.m. Sunday.

"Puneet could not raise an alarm and he was noticed by villagers much later. This is also why the rescue operations started late. He was taken out today morning, but was declared dead by doctors," Sub Divisional Magistrate (Kannauj) A.K. Srivastava told IANS over telephone.

Puneet's parents are farmers in Banwar Gara, around 300 km from here.

Srivastava said that a compensation of Rs.100,000 had been announced for the boy's family from the chief minister's relief fund. He added that farmer who had left the borewell open would be brought to book.

"The farmer, Satya Bhan Singh, took out the pump a few days ago and left the borewell open. It is a case of negligence and we will lodge a criminal case against him," Srivastava said.

Source : IANS