A trapped 7-year-old boy was saved after rescuers spotted his hand sticking out through a tiny gap on the ground.

On July 22, the boy’s grandfather took him to swim in a river in Yongjia county of Zhejiang province in eastern China.

The child then suddenly disappeared from the water, prompting the grandparent to look for his grandson in the area.

As the grandparent desperately searched, a man and other villagers saw a small hand sticking out through a tiny hole on the ground.

The locals immediately called the authorities as the child was trapped in an underground cave.

Authorities who responded to the scene attempted to open a hole while a rescuer held the boy’s hand tight in an effort to keep the boy from being swept by the current and being sucked straight into the deeper end of the underground cave.

It took the rescuers less than ten minutes to pull the boy out of the tunnel and back to his grandparent’s arms.

Local authorities said that they were not aware of the existence of an underground cave in the area before the incident happened.

According to officials, the tunnel will be sealed permanently to prevent such accidents from happening moving forward.

Parents have been warned by the authorities in the past, reminding them of the dangers of children swimming in rivers and reservoirs especially without adult supervision.

The warning comes after eight primary school students drowned in a river in southwestern China when one of them fell by accident and others jumped in to attempt rescue.

The state broadcaster CCTV reported that the victims went to play at the the Fu River in Chongqing last June, without an adult to accompany them.

The bodies of the children were discovered after rescuers were dispatched and searched for the children overnight.