Local people rushed to the rescue when a trapped three-year-old alive fell into an open pit near her home in south India, digging her free. 

The incident took place on January 13 in Chinnababu Samuthiram village, Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. 

The girl slid down the 5-foot-pit while playing, immediately prompting villagers to leap to the rescue, with footage showing local young men digging her out via a hole on one side of the pit. 

Once they dug up enough and reached near the girl, rescuers carefully pulled her out and handed over to her mother. 

The girl was later taken to a hospital where doctors ran some tests.