Newborn kittens were rescued from a car engine when the owners heard them crying.

The couple were about the leave the hotel car park when they heard the soft cries from the kittens inside their car on August 24.

They took their car to a nearby mechanic's shop in Phetchabun, northern Thailand, to get assistance because the kittens were hidden deep inside the engine parts.

Mechanic Mujarin Phromsri, 42, suggested that they remove the rear bumper so they can look for the kittens stuck inside.

He said: "They came to my shop, asking us for help in finding the kittens crying while driving to tourist attractions."

The couple had no idea how the kittens were stuck there but they think that their stray mother cat might have given birth to them from another place where they parked.

Mechanics were able to rescue two kittens with their fur still wet, struggling to breathe inside the engine. However, one of their siblings did not survive and was already dead when found them,

The kittens were placed in a box and cleaned. The couple also adopted the kittens and took them home with them to Bangkok.

Meanwhile, superstitious locals used the license plate number for lottery tickets as there is a local belief that animal encounters are lucky.