Five-year-old girl 'lucky to be alive' after being swallowed by manhole while playing in rain

The terrifying moment a young girl plunged into a manhole while playing outside with a friend in the rain was caught on camera.

Taken from CCTV footage in the city of Fortaleza in Brazil, the video shows the five-year-old girl playing with a friend in a flooded street when she suddenly sinks into the water and disappears from view.

The video was taken on 27 February, with the eastern Brazilian city being ravaged by floods due to heavy rain since the start of the year.

In the opening moments of the clip we see the unnamed girl's friend jump into the waterlogged road and begin swimming while she runs after him before being sucked into the hidden manhole.

Watch the horrifying moment below:

The video then cuts to the second child alerting two adults to the location where the girl vanished, with the pair appearing noticeably distressed after realising that she's fallen into a manhole.

Fortunately, the young girl was later found alive on a plot of land near a stream, around 30 metres (100 feet) away from the location which she vanished. Firefighters were called to the scene but by the time they arrived the girl had already been rescued by locals.

Her father - who was not named - later gave an update on the girl's condition and confirmed that she was well, despite the horrific ordeal.

"My daughter is fine, it was a scare. She is strong and well, thanks to God, and I can only be grateful," she said. The fire department has since warned people to take greater care when walking on the street during floods.

The girl appears to have been sucked into the manhole (Newsflash)

Thankfully, she was later found alive (Newsflash)

While there are no official figures for the number of manhole related accidents which have occurred over the years, numerous people have been seriously injured or even killed after falling into them.

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In September 2024 a 54-year-old Thai woman was rescued by authorities after falling into a drainage manhole. According to The Independent, the woman, named Wiparat Yonnawa, stepped on what appeared to be a secure piece of concrete pavement before it collapsed under her feet.

She then fell two metres into waist-deep water and remained trapped for half an hour until authorities were able to rescue her. Meanwhile a US man died in 2023 after falling into a 30ft-deep manhole in Harrison Township, Ohio.

Newsweek added that the man was rescued after being trapped for 25 minutes but was pronounced dead just over an hour later. The man's identity or cause of death was not released to the public