Boy sucked down a storm drain is spat out of another alive

22 December 2023 , 10:46

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Raphael Levi dos Santos Rocha., whose eye was injured in the freak accident (Image: Jam Press)

A seven-year-old child had a lucky escape when he was sucked down a storm drain - only to emerge from another one 300 yards away.

Raphael Levi dos Santos Rocha fell into the open hole as it rained on Monday (December 18). He went through seconds of terror as the flowing water carried him down the pipeline. Luckily, 300 metres (328 yards) away, he tumbled out of another opening in the ground in Cruz Alta, Brazil. Seven-year-old Raphael told local media: "There was a lot of water, not much space, and then I couldn't move much."

According to reports, a friend had seen him fall down the hole and had immediately run over to Raphael's dad to raise the alarm. But by the time Paulo Renato Rocha da Silva, 44, had reached the spot, his son was already emerging from another storm drain down the road. He said that, when he arrived, he got there was "no way" he would get his son back.

According to Paulo, Raphael had a lucky escape because at the exit he emerged from, there is a junction in the pipeline. Had he been swept the other way, the next available exit would have been much further away. Paulo told local media: "He literally crossed the entire pipeline until he got down there. We never thought we would find him again. I was amazed, I had never seen anything like it."

The storm drain, which swept the youngster 328 yards away (Jam Press)

Raphael picked up cuts and bruises to his face and was taken by his dad to a local hospital, where he received 25 stitches. He has since been discharged. The local authorities have since covered the open storm drain.

Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him

Earlier this year, two young lads had to be rescued in Adelaide, Australia after they crawled into a storm drainage system and got stuck in its maze of tunnels.

Raphael and his dad Paulo (Jam Press)

The youngsters were reportedly stuck in the tunnels for several hours before being freed. Residents in the suburb of Pooraka in Adelaide, South Australia, raised the alarm after hearing their cries for help on Monday afternoon.

It's understood the boys - believed to be aged 12 and 13 - had crawled into the labyrinth of tunnels through an opening at Mawson Lakes, another suburb of the city, with the pair later discovered about 1.5km from where they entered the system.

Ryan Fahey