Firefighters rescued worker buried up to the chest

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) - We continue to follow the progress of a worker trapped for hours in a trench in Carmel.

It took rescuers nearly three hours to get that man out of the trench.

Crews said it was never a race against time. They wanted to get the man out safely and that meant removing the dirt slowly, sometimes by hand.

Chopper 8 showed dozens of rescue crews out in front of a home on Rolling Springs Drive in Carmel.

Just before 1 o'clock Monday afternoon, Carmel 911 received a frantic call.

"Initially we got a call out as a man trapped in a hole," said Carmel Fire Marshal Bruce Knott.

Once on the scene, crews quickly realized the situation was more than a man in a hole.
Investigators say the man was trapped in a trench that was 12 feet deep and four feet wide. Fire Marshal Knott said the man was replacing a sewer line when the ground gave way.

"Fortunately for this fella, he was up to his waist and not any higher," he said.

For nearly three hours, emergency crews worked methodically to free the man. Even specialized suction equipment trucks were called in to help take dirt away.

"By loosening the dirt around the patient, we can actually remove the dirt from the patient rather than just reaching in the hole and trying to pull the patient out," said Assistant Fire Chief David Haboush.

Medics on the scene said the Bedell Plumbing worker was alert and conscious through the entire ordeal. He even talked to rescuers during the process.

"As soon as it was deemed safe, medical personnel got down in the hole with him," Assistant Chief Haboush said.

Finally, at 4:11 applause erupted from dozens of people who watched the whole ordeal unfold.

The man had been pulled out and firefighters put him on a gurney.

Fire Marshal Knott said this could have all ended tragically, but it turned out to be a miraculous recovery.

"What it shows is not only was the situation that the victim was in favorable for all accounts... a tragedy like this… but with all the rescue workers, all the on scene we were able to take care of... everybody that was at hand… they made it happen," Fire Marshal Knott said.

The man was taken to a waiting ambulance to a waiting medical helicopter and transported to St. Vincent Hospital.

Carmel Firefighters expect him to be ok.