St. Louis Post-Dispatch
LADUE, Mo. — A construction worker trapped inside an excavator when a chimney collapsed on it was rescued after nearly 2½ hours Wednesday morning.
He was talking but seriously injured, and paramedics loaded him onto a stretcher about 10:30 a.m. A physician from Washington University who specializes in caring for victims after structural collapses was among the dozens of rescuers at the scene, in the 400 block of South Price Road in Ladue.
Part of the chimney toppled about 8 a.m. as the home was being demolished, sending bricks, cinder blocks and other building debris onto the construction equipment and trapping the man.
Michael Thiemann, a spokesman for the Metro West Fire Protection District, said: “It is a lengthy extradition process due to the entanglement.”
More than a dozen fire departments were on the scene to help. Firefighters stood on top of the excavator, helping with the rescue. They put a tarp over the cab of the equipment and positioned plywood boards around the man. He was given IV treatments during the rescue.
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