March 27, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18, 1429

AGRA, March 26: Indian troops using digging equipment on Wednesday rescued a three-year-old girl who had been stuck in a bore well for 27 hours, rescuers said.

“We have brought out Vandana from the abandoned bore well and she’s now safe and ready to return home,” a military spokesman said after the toddler was saved with the help of soldiers and machinery.

Vandana, who was identified by one name, slipped into the 46-foot (14-metre) well in the northern Indian town of Agra and army engineers were called in after local rescuers failed to pull her out.

“It’s amazing. It’s the grace of God and we now pray to God for these soldiers who risked their lives to save the child,” Sartaj Singh, a resident said.

Doctors were on hand to offer first-aid to Vandana, who became a focus of attention, with Hindus and Muslim communities staging non-stop prayers for her safety, witnesses said.

“It was a tricky situation as the child was rapidly losing strength and we had to speed up everything to try and save her,” the military spokesman said.

Potential deathtraps such as the one into which Vandana tumbled are abundant in the parched region, where diggers often fail to seal off sites drilled for water.—AFP