This footage shows a horse being freed after it was trapped for several days in a sewer with a mechanical digger needed to smash a hole in the concrete cover – and everybody is puzzled as to how the horse got there in the first place.

The incident took place in the Bozova district of Sanliurfa province in south-eastern Turkey.

The horse had reportedly been missing for a few days and after hearing some noise coming from beneath the ground, villagers raised the alarm.

The horse had fallen into a covered sewer and had become trapped. It is currently unclear exactly how the horse became trapped.

Rescuers however had no choice but to drill through the concrete and into the sewer in a bid to rescue the horse.

The footage shows the mechanical digger drilling into the concrete and then shows rescuers trying to persuade the horse to leave the sewer and come to safety as the footage ends.

The horse’s owner has been named as Mahmut Coban who said the animal suddenly disappeared a few days ago before he learned that people had been hearing noises coming from the concrete covered sewer line.

Upon realising that the noises were being made by his horse, he alerted the fire brigade, although he was unable to explain how the animal had managed to access the sewers.

Local firefighters assisted in the rescue operation, along with locals, and the horse was successfully retrieved. It is not thought to have suffered any serious injuries although it was exhausted.