Story By: Sibel Abdiu, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

These images show good Samaritans rescuing a seagull after its beak became stuck fast in a power cable for seven hours.

The bird got its beak trapped in a wire above the River Mert in the port city of Samsun in northern Turkey’s Samsun Province.

Local residents spotted the seagull’s predicament and called both the city’s fire service and the local electric company.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire

But the bird was stuck halfway across the broad river – far from the reach of firefighters’ ladders.

In the end, electric workers loosened the cable on one side of the river so firemen and residents could haul it in from the other side.

Finally, they managed to pull enough of the power cable to dry land so that they could reach the trapped seagull and free it.

Initially the bird could barely move its beak after its ordeal but rescuers took it to a local shop for it to warm through in front of a heater.

And the seagull had soon recovered sufficiently for its rescuers to release it to fly off into the distance.

Local resident Kadir Coban said: “We should all feel obliged to help animals. The bird was left desperately hanging from the wire. 

“Our conscience didn’t allow us to leave it there. We did all we could. We warmed it in the shop and let it fly off into the air.”