Firefighters in China rescue family from truck dangling over the side of a cliff

It may resemble a scene from a Hollywood thriller: a precarious cliff-setup, wire harnesses, and a family in desperate danger.

But in this case, the danger was all too real as firefighters rescued a family of four from the cabin of a heavy-duty truck hanging on a cliff in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday.

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Firefighters improvised with a crane arm to wire up one of them for the rescue, while the truck was barely balancing itself on the edge of a 40-metre high cliff.

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One by one, the firefighters pulled to safety the two daughters, the wife and the husband who was driving the truck. None of the rescued got injured in the process.

Once on firm ground, the driver recalled how his machine broke through the highway guardrail and perched on the cliff edge.

Local traffic police have stepped in to investigate the cause of the accident.