This is the miracle moment an eight-year-old boy is wrenched from the deadly grip of a clay pit that was swallowing him whole.

The rescue, filmed by firefighters in the city of Kalinkovichi, in the Gomel Region of Belarus, began when passers-by spotted the boy being sucked down into the thick clay on the banks of a lake on 18th February.

Footage from the operation shows the boy covered in clinging mud right up to his neck as firefighters struggle to pull him free.

Finally, the boy is wrenched free and carried off in the arms of one rescuer for medical treatment as the footage ends.

A statement from the Belarus Ministry of Emergency Situations issued hours after the rescue and obtained by Newsflash said: “A child got stuck in clay on the shore of a lake. Kalinkovichi rescuers came to the rescue

“Today at 4:58 pm Kalinkovichi rescuers received a message about the need to provide assistance to a child.

“Emergency Situations Ministry units were sent to the scene of the incident.

Boy Rescued After Falling Onto Tracks

“As it became known later, an eight-year-old boy was playing with a friend on the shore of the lake.”

The boy, not named in local media, said later: “I got stuck in the clay and couldn’t get out on my own.”

The ministry statement continued: “Emergency Situations Ministry workers, using physical force. Removed the child from the clay and handed him over to doctors for examination.

“After examination, the rescued boy was hospitalised.”

There have been no further updates on the boy’s condition.