Race against time for boy stuck in well in India !

A rescue operation is underway to save an eight-year-old boy who has been stuck in a narrow well in India for over 16 hours.

Tanmay Sahu fell into the borewell in the central state of Madhya Pradesh while playing with friends on Tuesday evening.

Officials say that he is stuck at about 55ft in the 400ft-deep well.

Rescuers are pumping oxygen to the child but layers of mud mean they cannot assess his condition.

The state's disaster response force is helping with the rescue efforts in Betul district.

District magistrate Shyamendra Jaiswal told ANI news agency that it could take "a couple more hours" to rescue the child.

"It is taking longer than expected because there are stones [inside the well]," he said, adding that rescuers were using excavators to clear the passage.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted his concern for the child, saying he was in "constant touch with the local administration" and was praying for his wellbeing.

Due to water shortages, several farmers in India set up borewells - deep wells dug into the ground to extract water - for irrigation purposes.

However, after these wells run dry they are abandoned and left uncovered, posing a serious risk to passers-by, especially children.

Several children have died due to suffocation after falling into narrow borewells.