Man trapped in drain for three days is rescued after driver sees his fingers sticking out of manhole

A man stuck in a drain for three days has been rescued after a learner driver noticed two fingers sticking out of a manhole cover on the ground.

The man, who worked as a binman, was said to have wandered off and walked into an underground drain, where he was trapped inside for three days.

Video taken at the driving school in New Luosiwan, Kunming in southwest China’s Yunnan province shows the bin man sticking his fingers in and out of the holes of the manhole cover.

A learner driver said they heard some noise coming from underground before they realised the fingers.

“It’s like he was trying to send a distress signal,” the driver told Yunnan TV.

Firefighters were alerted to the incident, which happened on November 18, and spent half an hour to free the man from the drain.

Rescuers used iron bars and a hammer to pry open the cement manhole cover.

They pulled the topless man from the drain and sent him to a nearby hospital for a checkup.

The driving instructor told the media: “The man said he was collecting waste and got lost on his way back.

“He walked along a canal and into the drain and couldn’t find his way out.”