Rescuers find body of boy stuck in abandoned Chinese well

BEIJING - The body of a six-year-old boy, who was trapped in an abandoned well for more than four days, has been recovered after an extensive rescue operation in northern China, state media said on Friday.

Heavy machinery and more than 500 people were involved in the bid to find the boy, who fell into the 40 metre (131 feet) deep and 30 cm (12 inches) wide well in Baoding, Hebei province, on Sunday morning, Xinhua said.

Rescuers had provided oxygen into the well but stopped receiving contact with the boy earlier this week. His body was found on Thursday night.

"Medical experts have confirmed that the child has no sign of life, very regrettably," Wu Sujie, deputy commander in chief of the rescue team, was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV.