Thanks everyone and sorry for not coming back sooner.

The boy was found yesterday.
He is alive and well.

His father said in an interview that the boy wanted to visit his older brother who lived in another city about 20 miles away. He took the bus and arrived there but got lost in the city. He had some money but no phone. He slept in a mosque and had enough money for a few meals/snacks. Then he decided to go back home and got to the bus station where someone helped him to contact his family.


My thoughts:

Like many such stories, some info is lacking. Some people do not seem to belive the story 100%. But everyone is happy he is alive.

I wonder, if the boy is somehow capable of communicating, it is even more necessary to give him a phone than his brothers and sisters. A cheap phone is all that is needed, and will not be an attractive target for someone to steal from him. In the back cover of the phone, some emergency money can be inserted for snacks and bus ticket.

The weather these days is horribly hot. The government has imposed a period (10am-3pm)of no-labor-work. I wonder if he didn't find air-conditioned shelter what would have happened to him.

Food-wise, he was lucky it was near the end of the holy month of Ramadhan and the Eid celebrations afterwards. Free meals are abundant in and around mosques this time of the year ( the lunar Islamic calendar). Drinking water is usually available year round.

Off course , some people including me do have darker thoughts about the boy travelling without telling his father. But they are not solid facts. So, we just welcome the news of his safer return and hope all is well .