A man was in fear for his life after a shocking accident saw him become stuck in an oily pit for a night.
The 32-year-old fell in the pit when he was returning home from work in the Russian oil region of Tatarstan and was unable to get out.
The man had to be rescued after becoming stuck for around seven hours in a pit full of bitumen. Remarkable footage showed the man up to his neck in oil, with only his head and hands exposed.
It wasn't until dawn that a person heard his calls for help and the emergency services used a rope and hook to pull him out of the murky black swamp.
NTV reported: "When the victim realised that he would not be able to get out on his own, he began to call for help."
The incident occurred in the town of Bugulma, which has a population of around 90,000.
Tartarstan is an area rich in oil reserves and estimates in 2019 said around 3.4 billion tonnes, or 24.9 billion barrels, have been pulled from the region.
"A 32-year-old man got stuck up to his neck in a pit with bitumen,” said the Russian emergencies ministry. "Employees of the Fire and Rescue Unit No. 64 arrived at the scene and helped him get out.
"Hospitalisation was not required and the man himself refused medical assistance."
The incident was an unhappy accident, but similar to when another Russian man, 33, tumbled into a huge pool of toxic tar. People passing by managed to pull him out and he was taken to hospital by emergency services.
Medics had to use razors to remove the tar after he fell in the city of Pavlovsk, Western Russia.
Despite the shock of the incident, the victim was reported as fine and recovered.
In 2020 a 25-year-old man became trapped in oil in Ghana after attempting to steal it.
Emmanuel Gyimah was alleged to have attempted stealing from his employer at the ENH Emotion Company.
When attempting to steal the substance, with an accomplice, Emmanuel fell into the barrel and the Ghana National Fire Service had to be called to get him out.
He was later taken to hospital while his friend went on the run from the authorities.
