Chinese man arrested over bogus emergency call to firefighters about drowning child; trapped dog rescued instead

A Chinese man was arrested for reportedly making a false claim to emergency services that a child was drowning in a river, mainland media reports.

In reality the call had been made because a dog had got itself stuck in a ditch, the Guangzhou Daily reported.

The fire brigade in Guangzhou, in Guangdong province, sent a truck with seven firefighters, while six medical staff and two police officers also went to the scene in the city’s Tianhe district on Sunday.

Yet when they arrived the firefighters and the police had to check back with the call centre to confirm the correct details after finding the dog that was trapped in the ditch.

They rescued the dog from the ditch when it was confirmed they were in the right place.

Police later arrested the man who made the call, identified in the report by his surname of Liang, 35, for lying about the nature of the emergency.