© YouTube / ИА Версия-Саратов
When your 4x4 off-road vehicle fails you in the fierce Russian winter, and even a tractor can't pull you out, you may still hope for a miracle to happen - at least if you're in Saratov, where this viral video was shot.
Uploaded to social media, the footage shows a camel trying to pull the car out of snow on a dual-carriage road. The animal, controlled by its cameleer, succeeds at the third attempt as cheering voices are heard in the background. At the end of the video a tractor is seen on the roadside standing still - apparently after failing to dig out the car.
The surreal scene was filmed outside the city of Saratov, 836 km southeast of Moscow. The camel's owner told local media he gives rides to children at the local circus on the weekends.
A camel is certainly not a typical match for the Russian winter but locals in Saratov have to be creative as the city was hit by a series of massive snow blizzards since the beginning of the year. People on social media are reporting snow banks taller than a man in the center of the city and along the surrounding motorways.
Snow storms prompted heavy traffic jams and disrupted railway connections, with local authorities having to ask the military for help to shovel away the snow.
Reader Comments
On the bright side, there's a pretty widespread cultural tendency to help rescue or otherwise aid those that fall prey to the ravages of winter. In a sense, folks are expected to help out others, even the reckless idiots who bring on their own misery.
When it's not winter those same idiots turn to the sport of ditch driving. There are lots and lots of ditches in AK and the point seems to be to drive as fast down the ditches till you get stuck or turnover, whichever comes first. Some folks I've talked to don't consider a new car broken in till it's been stuck ditch driving.
It may not seem like much fun or very smart, but you work with the resources you've got, y'know?