A 62-year-old man buried alive for four days was rescued after police heard his muffled cries for help coming from underground.
The terrifying ordeal was discovered as officers investigated the death of a 74-year-old woman found in her home by a relative on Monday, May 13.
Forensic specialists determined she had died from multiple wounds.
The same day, an 18-year-old man was arrested in Ustia, northwest Moldova, where both incidents occurred.
The young man, reportedly intoxicated, gave inconsistent and confusing statements during questioning. While searching his home, officers heard faint cries for help nearby.
As the officers followed the noise, they realised it was coming from underground. Digging further, they uncovered the entrance to a makeshift basement where the cries originated.
Police footage captured the dramatic rescue, showing the man being pulled from the ground. He was conscious and had a neck wound.
The rescued man explained to the police that he and the teenager had been drinking together when an argument broke out. The teenager wounded him, locked him in the basement, and covered the entrance with soil. The man endured four harrowing days underground before being discovered.
Authorities suspect the young man also murdered the older woman on the night of Sunday, May 12, or in the early hours of Monday. He has been taken into custody as police and prosecutors investigate charges of murder and attempted murder.
If convicted, he faces life in prison. The rescued man is currently receiving treatment in the hospital.
Residents described the deceased woman as a “very decent woman,” noting that no one ever had any problems with her. The shocking events have left the community in disbelief and mourning.
This dramatic rescue comes just days after another startling incident in Algeria, where a man named Omar Bin Omran was found living underneath a sheep pen for 27 years after being kidnapped. He disappeared from the city of Djelfa at age 17, presumed killed during the civil war.
It was later revealed he had been held captive just 200 meters from his home, in a hole covered by hay beneath his neighbour’s sheep pen.
