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How 4-year-old Mississippi boy was rescued after 3 hours in well

Little Gabe Allbritton went looking for his missing dog, and found himself stuck in a 23-foot deep well. 

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(WJTV via AP)
This image taken from WJTV video shows the moment a boy is pulled up by rescuers using a rope from a well, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) south of Jackson in Lincoln County, MS., Monday, Sept. 7, 2015. Clifford Galey, civil defense director for Lincoln County, told The Daily Leader newspaper that the 4-year-old boy and his dog had been trapped in a well nearly 25 feet (7.6 meters) deep. They were rescued a few hours later to the cheers of emergency workers. The hole was only about a foot and a half wide.
  • By Staff Associated Press

| Brookhaven, Miss

After spending three hours in an old water well, a 4-year-old boy was rescued along with his dog in southern Mississippi as emergency workers cheered.

Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency Director Clifford Galey says Gabe Allbritton was in the yard with his grandmother when he disappeared Monday afternoon.

The boy and his dog were trapped 23 feet below ground in an 18-inch wide hole. 

Galey said the boy wasn't stuck but couldn't grasp the rope. Rescuers tried several times of hoist the boy up with a rope. He said they finally made a seat with the rope, the youngster climbed in and was pulled to safety.

“When we got him to the top of the hole and were able to get our hands on him, we were ecstatic,” said Capt. Chris Reid, of Hog Chain Volunteer Fire Department, according to USA Today. “Relief came over us, and the Lord blessed us and blessed him. Having kids, that was on my mind the whole time, ‘what if it was my kids?’ That’s the effort we put into it.”

Galey said the dog was pulled up next when it stepped into a loop that was tightened quickly.

The health of the boy? "He's cold, he's dirty, and he's hungry," Galey told The Daily Leader. "And we promised him a ride on a fire truck and we're going to give that to him before we leave here tonight."

He said the dog had been missing for about a week and the boy must have heard him bark down in the hole. He said the youngster took several steps and fell into the hole which was overgrown with weeds. He was lifted out at about 8:05 p.m. 

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