Trench trapped worker freed

Emergency services personnel work into the night to free the trapped man. 172432 Pictures: GARY SISSONS

A man was trapped in a trench at Mt Hira College in Keysborough.
Ambulance Victoria was called to the Perry Road Islamic school about 4.15pm on Friday 1 September to reports that the man was trapped in soil from the waist down.
About 35 members of the CFA and MFB specialist trench rescue crews attended the building site in 15 vehicles.
CFA incident controller Loretta Binder from Keysborough Fire Brigade co-ordinated the incident, with the Dandenong brigade’s Adam Small as rescue commander.
“The worker was trapped below the waist by falling soil around 2.5 metres from the top of a narrow trench,” the CFA said.
“As multiple agencies worked together, the area was stabilised to allow Dandenong brigade’s ladder platform to carefully lift the worker clear after more than three hours.”
Ambulance Victoria said paramedics assessed the man about 8pm, once he was freed, and took him to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition.
They could not provide more details on his condition.
Mt Hira College principal Ian McKenzie said staff and students were not on site due to the Eid holiday.
He referred the Journal to builders MSM and Associates, but the business did not respond to requests for comment.