What Rayan's story means for Morocco, the region and beyond

People gathered for days to offer Rayan and emergency services their support. AFP

On Tuesday, five-year-old Rayan Aourram fell 32 metres down a dry well near the Moroccan town of Bab Berred. Within days, he became known the world over by his first name, as authorities attempted a hugely complex and brave operation to rescue him as quickly as possible.

No matter the technical expertise on the ground, a miracle would still have been needed for him to survive and tragically none was forthcoming. News of his death broke on Sunday, via a statement from Morocco's royal court, shortly after authorities pulled him to the surface. King Mohammed VI of Morocco expressed his condolences to Rayan’s parents in a phone call.

First thoughts must go to the child’s family, who should be given every support available. It is also right to acknowledge the particular significance this tragedy will have for Morocco, even the wider region. Rayan was one of many children in the Middle East and North Africa who needs a rescue of some kind. Unlike in his case, the world will not know the names of most of them.

It will also bring up memories of similar stories and traumatic memories for those who were involved in them, even the ones who survived. In 2010, 33 Chilean miners were pulled to the surface after a cave-in left them trapped underground for 69 days. Experts fashioned a custom rescue capsule, in part designed by the US space agency Nasa. In 2018, a global rescue operation was launched for a Thai football team of 12 teenage boys and their coach, who were trapped in a cave for more than two weeks. One rescuer died in the otherwise successful operation.

There have been few stronger scenes of global jubilation and emotion in recent years than after these rescues. It is always enthralling when people beat terrible odds to cheat death.

But Rayan's story is a reminder of quite how tough these odds are, and that even all the bravery and ingenuity of rescue teams is often not enough. The same can be said of Lama Al Rouqi, a six-year-old Saudi girl, who fell down a well in the north of the country in 2013, and two-year-old Sujith Wilson, who fell down a borehole in southern India in 2019. When such difficult missions fail, no one is to blame.

Much like they were not alone during the operation, Rayan's loved ones will also have the solidarity of people around the world as they grieve. Pictures of his parents walking from the scene have understandably been shared the world over. But they point to a shift that now needs to take place from a story that captivated the world in solidarity, to one that now needs to give his family privacy.

After all, positive media interest can take a negative turn. While the Thai football team was undergoing its near-catastrophic ordeal, global attention was briefly diverted by a bizarre and inappropriate spat between a key rescue diver in the operation and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk over the former's rejection of a rescue strategy proposed by Mr Musk.

So far, the mood over the past few days has been only that of solidarity on a remarkably wide scale. It must stay that way. But while the focus should be on helping Rayan's family grieve, the world can still remember him, his rescuers and supporters as part of an intense moment of rare global unity that will be remembered for years.