Laurence Dollimore
A DRILLING expert has said it is ‘almost impossible’ for little Julen Jimenez to be inside the Malaga well he is believed to have fallen down on Sunday.
Francisco Barranquero, 63, who owns drilling company Perfoban, told El Español that the hole ‘does not have a vertical direction’.
He told the paper after visiting the site himself: “It seems very complicated for me that the kid is in there, almost impossible, actually… that or the search is not going well at all.
“The hole does not have a vertical direction as if the perforation were plummeting vertically… in one hundred meters there can be a deviation of up to two and three meters horizontally, and the opening is only a hand’s breadth in width… is it possible that a baby does not get stuck and has fallen straight to the bottom? As I said that it is very difficult.”
It comes after the Guardia Civil said they have not yet found any concrete evidence that Julen is down the well.
“We are not 100% sure of anything,” a spokesman told El Español, “We are trying to find out what is under the well.”
At the moment they only have the testimony of the parents and some uncles of Julen, who on Sunday reported that they saw him fall into the cavity at around two in the afternoon.
“We have not reached where the child is, we have not located him,” added the spokesman.
In another twist, the builder who created the well said he sealed it up just over a month ago.
Speaking exclusively to El Español, Antonio Sánchez Gámez said he sealed it ‘with a stone’.
“I always seal my jobs for safety. If someone had not removed the stone later, the child would not have fallen inside,” he said.
The businessman, owner of Perforaciones Triben, based in Benamocarra (Malaga), said the owner of the land must have removed the seal recently.
The land is owned by immediate relatives of Julen’s mum Vicki and his dad Jose.
Both under 30, the parents of Julen are currently receiving psychological treatment at the base camp of the rescue operation.
The bold claims come as the Asturias A-team who helped rescue the infamous 13 Chilean miners from a collapsed mine have been flown in to help the rescue operation.
