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A naked man who fell into a deep well while 'walking to a communal toilet' was rescued by firefighters after getting trapped.

The poor villager, whose name and age were not given, is suspected to have been walking to the loo when he lost his footing and tumbled into the underground structure.

The incident from a village near the city of Shouguang, in East China’s Shandong Province, was brought to the police’s attention after relatives of the trapped man called it in.

Having fallen into the 20-metre (65ft) well, his family could hear him mumbling in pain, but they had no way to free him.

(Image: AsiaWire) (Image: AsiaWire) (Image: AsiaWire)

Local authorities were called to the scene and found that he was stuck about halfway down the well - at a depth of 10 metres (32ft).

Initial attempts to rescue him failed after he could not grab a rope lowered into the well.

The authorities then decided to call in three excavators and had to pump oxygen down into the well to keep the man alive.

After about 40 minutes of digging, the machines reached a depth of about 8 metres (26ft) and the firemen dug the rest of the way with shovels.

(Image: AsiaWire) (Image: AsiaWire)

The man was finally pulled from the well stark naked in just under an hour.

Viewers on Chinese social media said they believed the man was on his way to the loo, saying that it is common for villagers to walk to communal toilets unclothed.

These claims, however, have yet to be confirmed by authorities who are investigating the accident.