A YOUNG BOY who had been trapped down a well in China for more than four days was found dead yesterday, despite a rescue attempt involving hundreds of people.

The six-year-old’s body was discovered in the abandoned, narrow 80-metre (260-foot) deep well in Hebei province in northern China, the state’s Xinhua news agency said.

He had been helping his father harvest vegetables in Baoding city on Sunday when he fell.

A team of more than 500 rescuers and 100 excavators arrived on the scene after the father made a call for help on social media, Xinhua said.

The 30-centimetre well shaft was too small for adults to enter, so rescuers widened it while pumping in oxygen, it added.

Photos showed teams of hard-hatted men hauling woven baskets filled with dirt away from the well’s mouth, while digging machines scrabbled frantically at the dry brown earth around it, carving a wide, shallow crater. Multiple ambulances stood by on-site.

Rescue efforts were hampered by the surrounding soil, it’s soft and sandy consistency made it prone to collapsing.

- © AFP 2016

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