Nearby villages help out to remove soil after hearing her distressed cries

This is the heart-wrenching moment a mother elephant desperately tried to pull her baby from a well after, staying by their side for 11 hours.

The determined mum refused to leave her calf, first using her trunk and then her feet in a bid to haul her precious baby to safety.

Unfortunately the frantic mother elephant made matters worse by accidentally pushing more mud into the well and almost smothering the baby, which was trapped from 9pm until 8am the following morning.

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Tugging: A mum frantically tried to get her baby out of a muddy well, after it fell in and became stuck

Help: Villagers from a nearby village in the Chatra district of India come to the young elephant's aid by removing soil at the top of the well

But thankfully the tiny elephant was eventually freed when people living near the Chatra district in India, where the incident happened, rushed to the scene after hearing the distressed cries.

Kind-hearted villagers deterred the mother and used the time to remove some of the soil stopping her from grabbing the calf.

Muddy: The baby elephant was caked in mud for 11 hours during the drama. Its mother refused to leave its side during the time as she frantically tried to pull her out, while villagers gathered in the background to watch

Jitendra Tiwari, who filmed the drama and helped with the rescue, said: 'We chopped off a few banana trucks and put it near the well so that the mother elephant moved away for sometime.

'The plan worked and we used the time remove the heap of sand deposited near the well that was making it difficult for her to rescue the baby.'

The mother then tightly wrapped her trunk around the baby's slippery, mud-caked body and pulled her out.

The duo were later seen entwining trunks and happily walking side-by-side as they continued their journey.

Free: Mother and baby walk alongside after the calf is pulled to safety