Alabama boy, 22 months old, fine after 13 hours trapped in 14-footwell

After nearly 13 hours, rescuers using a powerful drill and working under bright lights saved a little boy trapped at the bottom of an abandoned well. The boy was brought to the surface to cheers, tears and cries of "Praise the Lord!"

More than 100 people had gathered at the vacant lot, watching and praying through the night for 22-month-old Da'jour McMillan. He was hospitalized in good condition.

The child was playing with his older brother and sister near his grandparents' house when he disappeared down the 14-foot well, which was overgrown with grass.

"The man who cuts the grass didn't even know about it," firefighter Jimmy Brown said.

Brown said that when Frisco City firefighters and police arrived, they called for a rescue team from Mobile, AL, with special training. A power company's drill was used to dig a shaft next to the one where the little boy was trapped.

Rescue workers then tunneled over to the well to reach the child.

A camera was dropped down the well to keep an eye on the boy during the rescue. The warm night helped ward off hypothermia.

The main worry was that the child might not be able to breathe in the narrow hole.

Brown said the child was "as happy as he could be" when he emerged from the well.

"When he came out he saw his mama, and he called out for his mama," said cousin Tammy Howard. "Oh, yes, it was a miracle."

Mayor Jim Cave said the night "seemed like eternity." Cave was at the site through the night.

The well and the hole dug for the rescue were filled in with dirt to prevent another accident.

Firefighters said the incident reminded them of the 1987 rescue of 18-month-old Jessica McClure of Midland, TX. She fell into an abandoned well and became trapped 22 feet down in a hole 8 inches wide. It took emergency crews 2-and-a-half days to reach the little girl. She recovered from her injuries.

Frisco City is a town of 1,500 about 60 miles north of Mobile.