Today, the luckiest man in the world is from China. Identified as Mr Liu by the news, this inhabitant of the village of Fuliudian in Henan province in the central-eastern part of the country narrowly escaped death.
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He was in the process of making some changes in the courtyard of the family home. His aim was to plug up the dry well in the middle of the property. But things did not go as planned and he fell into the hole. Fortunately, he was saved thanks to his belly. No, this is not a joke!
How did this happen?
The 28-year-old had filled the well with pieces of wood. When the hole seemed to be full, he decided to climb up on the pile of wood and jump on it to pack it down and put some more in if necessary. Bad idea... That's how he got stuck.
Saved by his belly
The images of the accident were shared by the fire brigade who came to his aid. Mr Liu can be seen in the photographs waiting patiently for someone to come and get him out, arms folded.
It took five firefighters to extract him. They first passed ropes around his body and a belt. They were also helped by the villagers lift the young man out of the well. According to them, he managed to get out of the situation simply because he was ‘too big.’ His weight was estimated by the rescuers at almost 20 stone.
Nevertheless, after this big scare for Mr Liu and his family, everything is fine. He was not seriously injured.