Hundreds of mourners gathered on Monday to pay their final respects to the 5-yr-old Moroccan boy who was discovered dead last Saturday after a days-long rescue mission that captivated the country and the world.

Rayan Awram, a five-year-old boy from Ighran village, fell into a well on Tuesday. After excavating most of an adjacent hillside and tunneling towards the bottom of the well, his body was ultimately taken out late last Saturday.

Hundreds of mourners hiked the hilly, unpaved road leading to the cemetery at Ighran, near Chefchaouen in northern Morocco, where they waited for hours for the funeral to observe Muslim burial rites.

“I am over 50 years old and never seen as many people in a funeral. Rayan is the son of us all,” one witness said.

There were so many mourners that the village cemetery and prayer location couldn’t accommodate them all. Two big tents were set up in front of the bereaved family’s home for mourners to pay their respects.

“Rayan’s death has renewed faith in humanity as people in different languages and from different countries express solidarity,” said another villager.

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, Pope Francis, French President Emmanuel Macron, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and other notables sent condolences to the parents on Saturday.

Egyptian and Senegalese football players observed a minute of silence before the final of the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament on Sunday.

Rescuers had worked nonstop and were always in danger of sparking a landslide in their ultimately futile attempt to save the child.

“I am very sad. We spared no effort to reach the boy alive.

“We excavated around the clock in five days what could have taken weeks,” volunteer digger Ali Sahraoui told reporters at the funeral.

The well was only 45cm wide at the top and tapered as it dropped 32m to the bottom, where Rayan was trapped, making it impossible for rescuers to descend directly.

A male relative of the boy said last Friday that the family had first realised he was missing when they heard muffled crying and lowered a phone with its light and camera switched on to locate him.

“He was crying ‘lift me up’,” said the relative.

The hilly region around Chefchaouen is bitterly cold in winter and rescuers attempted to keep the boy alive by lowering food, water and oxygen through a tube.

“I am so sad to learn Rayan has died. Sincere condolences to the parents,” said Rabat resident Abderrahim Sabihi.

Image Credit: File photo

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