Worker rescued after being buried at construction site

Trench collapse left man conscious but trapped for 31/2 hours.

A construction worker in Paulding County was rescued Friday after he was buried up to his chest in soil about 20 feet below ground when a trench collapsed at a residential site, officials said.

“We showed up and could not see the victim,” Capt. Brandon Maple with the Paulding fire department said.

But thanks to a co-worker who cleared the man’s face and collaboration between Paulding and Cobb County rescue teams, the man was pulled to safety about 3½ hours later.

Firefighters rescued him just after 3 p.m. at the site on Persian Ivy Way near Dallas. Collapsing soil and clay buried the man up to his armpits, but he was fully conscious for the entire ordeal, which began around noon, Paulding fire Lt. Steve Mapes told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

A man at the scene who identified himself as the homebuilder declined to comment on what caused the collapse, which happened between two homes under construction in a cul-de-sac.

Investigators worked to clear the man’s airway while dealing with a language barrier, Maple said. It was essential to keep the victim calm despite being surrounded by equipment used in the rescue.

“Not only is it a closed-in space, but you are actually completely encapsulated with soil,” he said.

It was the second time in three months that a dramatic rescue has taken place in Paulding.

On Dec. 19, a worker fell about 20 feet into a rock hopper at a quarry near Dallas. He was trapped for more than five hours, officials said.

The man was eventually pulled free and complained of back pain and numbness in his legs, the AJC reported. He was treated in an ambulance and taken to the hospital.

According to Maple, the prior incident was coined “the Christmas miracle,” while Friday’s episode was called an “Easter miracle.”

During Friday’s incident, medical personnel provided the man with oxygen and an IV while he remained buried. Firefighters devised a ropeand-ladder system to lift him from the pit.

The man, whose name was not released, was eventually freed and placed on a stretcher, then carried to a waiting ambulance. From there, he was taken to a helicopter to be flown to Grady Memorial Hospital. The extent of the man’s injuries was not known late Friday.