Elephants rescued from muddy mining pool in Malaysia, sticking together to climb out

Elephants trapped in a muddy hole were saved in Malaysia on Tuesday, and their rescue was captured on video by Malaysia’s Department of Wildlife.

Indigenous people spotted the five elephants in an abandoned illegal mining pool in Pahang’s forest reserve, which is about 125 miles east of Kuala Lumpur, and alerted local media about the situation, Malaysia’s Department of Wildlife reported.

The herd stuck closely together through the ordeal as an excavator dug a path for them to climb out, the video shows.

Crowds of onlookers cheered as the elephants finally made their way out in the rescue operation which took four hours, according to Reuters.