in the hills near one of their northern towns. rayan�*s story was told around the world. but it seems the rescue teams could not get to him in time. and the prayers of a nation went unanswered. a country hoping for a child's salvation has been left bereft, and rayan�*s parents can only mourn their son. duncan kennedy, bbc news. journalist aida alami has been following the story. she explained how the rescue efforts gripped the nation. i'm still trying to make sense of what happened. the boy fell down the well on tuesday. at first, the villagers scrambled to get him out and then there was an actual rescue operation put into place. at first, we were given images of the boy, seemingly breathing, and there was some hope.