Five-year-old Rayan Awram was pulled from the well on Saturday after being trapped for four days, but the country's king revealed that he had died.

Speaking in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis praised the Moroccan people for "putting their all" into trying to save him.

"We're used to seeing, reading in the media, so many ugly things, ugly news, accidents, killings," the pontiff said.

"The people clung together, as a whole, to save Rayan, they worked together to save a child," he added.

"[The rescuers] tried their best, unfortunately they did not make it, but that [was] an example."

Rayan fell into the well in Ighran, in Chefchaouen province, on 1 February and the effort to save him made headlines around the world.

Search crews used five bulldozers to dig a vertical hole parallel to the one he was in, before moving horizontally to reach him from the 32m (105ft) well.

Initially, they had been able to provide him oxygen and water using a rope, but the narrow diameter of the hole caused problems. Efforts were paused on Friday over concerns that the ground surrounding the well could collapse.

On social media, thousands expressed sympathy, with the hashtag #SaveRayan trending on Twitter.

Two government officials said on Saturday that Rayan had died before rescuers reached him.

His plight was poignant for many in Italy due to a situation there in 1981 when a six-year-old boy fell into a well and died despite a three-day rescue bid.