Dramatic footage captured the moment a Kentucky construction worker was heroically rescued after being buried alive for more than nine hours.
Rescue teams worked late into the night Thursday after a worker at a Louisville site fell into a 10-foot-deep “void” and became trapped under deep rubble.
Incredible footage showed workers searching through concrete to unearth the construction worker, with only the top of his helmet visible. Officials said he had only a “little bit” of room to continue breathing for hours.
Crews used buckets and worked by hand for hours, and the victim – who has not been identified – remained conscious throughout the ordeal until he was lifted onto a stretcher.
Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said the worker was “completely buried” under construction debris and “in a lot of pain” when he was finally rescued from the hole.
He was admitted to the University of Louisville Hospital. The extent of his injuries remains unclear, but the worker is reportedly expected to recover.
O’Neill added: ‘We’ve seen a lot of trench rescues in the 24 years I’ve been doing this… I’ve never seen anything like it.
“This is quite a serious incident.”
Rescue crews worked for more than nine hours at a construction site in Louisville, Kentucky, on Thursday after a worker was buried alive under 10 feet of rubble.
Incredible footage showed workers searching through concrete to unearth the construction worker, with only the top of his helmet visible
The worker who fell into the void was working on a site demolition crew when he fell into the hole around noon Thursday.
As rescue crews worked for hours to dig him out, local news stations in Louisville arrived on the scene and began livestreaming the heroic efforts.
Five other men were with the victim when he fell into the hole, and after alerting authorities, a search team specializing in trench and confined space rescues arrived on the scene within minutes, reports K105.
O’Neill said the victim was “very happy” with the way the void collapsed around him, because he had “a little bit of empty space around him so he could breathe.”
Footage showed teams removing buckets of rubble from the hole in a laborious process that took more than nine hours. O’Neill said the situation was made even more challenging by the loose debris.
“We’re moving tons and tons of debris by hand, with buckets,” O’Neill told reporters at the scene, describing his department’s efforts.
“Imagine a person at the bottom of a funnel. You have to support everything else that continues to flow down to create a safe space and then continue to dig this person out.”
Authorities were eventually able to use a crane and ladders to free the man from the hole, and he was eventually carried away around 8:30 p.m.
O’Neill said the situation was made even more challenging by the loose debris, and crews had to “support anything else that continues to flow down to create a safe space and then continue to excavate this individual ‘
The victim, whose identity is not yet known, was lifted onto a stretcher and taken to hospital with injuries. Although the extent of his injuries is unknown, he is expected to recover
Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said ‘in 24 years of doing this… I’ve never seen anything like this’
O’Neill said there was “tempered celebration” as the worker was brought to safety, saying not all their efforts have such a happy ending.
“This is what our firefighters do, that’s why we took this job, we want to help people,” he concluded.
‘And it’s not like in the movies: you’re not always successful. So when you have that kind of success, it’s a great feeling.”
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg later described it as “an incredibly difficult trench rescue.”