A dramatic battle to free a trapped eight-year-old Turkish boy from an airtight bank safe has been captured on camera.

Watched by scores of onlookers, fire officers in Istanbul used a sledgehammer and electric saw to free Cihan Sevinc.

The youngster had found the disused unit while playing in a footpath in Istanbul with friends. It had been left outside a safe shop, whose owner was away on holiday.

Unaware of the danger it posed Cihan climbed into the safe, his companions shutting the door behind him as a joke.

One alarmed passer by who saw what had happened called the fire brigade. "I saw the children playing. Then they put the boy in the vault and closed the door. I rushed and called the police," the witness said.

When police and fire crews finally cut open the door and freed the frightened child, he was seen covering his ears in fear before being carried to safety. His only injury was a small cut above his right eye.