MADRID — Rescue crews in Spain appeared to be centimeters of rock away late Friday from the space where a 2-year-old boy is believed to be trapped underground after falling into a borehole Jan. 13.

Julen Rosello fell down the narrow 360-foot-deep borehole while his family was preparing a countryside lunch.

The accident in Malaga province gripped Spaniards from day one and the country has followed closely every turn of an extremely complex and frequently hampered search-and-rescue mission.

The dry waterhole, only 25-centimeters in diameter, is too narrow for an adult to get into and hardened soil and rock blocked equipment from progressing to the place two-thirds of the way down where Julen is thought to be.

A series of small explosions set off since Thursday helped workers dig most of a horizontal tunnel to the cavity.