A pregnant cat trapped on the second floor of a building in Dubai took a literal leap of faith, in a dramatic incident caught on video. Four people, including two Keralites, can be seen holding a large piece of cloth below the building as the cat jumped from the balcony, where it was trapped. Each of the men were awarded 50,000 Dirhams (Rs 10 lakh) each for the rescue.
On August 24, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, shared the video on his Twitter page of "Proud and happy to see such acts of kindness in our beautiful city. Whoever identifies these unsung heroes, please help us thank them," he tweeted with video.
The white cat appears on the edge of the balcony and begins to shimmy its way down, while the men hold out the sheet below. Suddenly, the cat drops straight down and thankfully falls safely into the makeshift net held out by the men. She starts to walk away, but not before getting some pets from the men who saved her.
Ashraf from Morocco, who works as a watchman, Atif Mehmood, a salesman from Pakistan, Nasser, from Kerala who works as a driver and Muhammed Rashid from Kerala, were honoured by the ruler of Dubai.
The incident took place at Deira Frij Murar. The video was first posted by Muhammed Rashid from Kerala, who runs a grocery store on the street. It was Rashid who shared the video on his Instagram. Later, he also posted another video of the cat eating some food and said that she is fine.
He had told the media that the cat was seen on the street so frequently that everyone knew her, but they do not know how she got trapped on the balcony.
As per reports, the men also knew each other earlier. When they saw the cat trapped, they quickly arranged a bedsheet and held it below the building. The Dubai police collected the details of the men in the video and later, representatives from Sheikh Mohammed's office handed over the reward.