The lifeless body of this six-year-old boy has been recovered after he fell into a water-filled well while on his way to buy sweets with his pocket money.

Tragic Imad Mahmoud Halim tumbled into the uncovered well in the village of Kufur Al Ghab – near the city of Kafr Saad, Damietta Governorate, Egypt – on 19th February.

Rescue workers were dispatched to the scene and frantically tried to get the schoolboy out.

But after a painstaking, eight-hour operation involving diggers and water pumps, rescue workers were heartbroken when they could only retrieve his limp body.

He was taken to hospital in Kafr Saad, but medics could only pronounce him dead.

Local media said Imad was pulled by a diver from a depth of 10 metres (33 feet) after being swept 70 metres (230 feet) along a two-metre- (seven-foot-) wide underground pipe.

They added that his devastated mother had to be held back by locals after she saw his body, let out a scream, and tried to jump in the well herself.

She later told local media that she had given her son money to buy sweets before he went to a private class in the evening.

Imad – seen in this snap smiling in his football kit – was reportedly strolling along the road when he took the tumble and plunged into the well.

Dr Manal Awad Mikhail – governor of Damietta – has ordered a committee to investigate the case and determine if anyone is liable for criminal charges.