Crews spend hours digging out person stuck 10 to 15 feet below ground, NC photos show
A person was stuck 10 to 15 feet below ground, sparking a five-hour rescue in North Carolina, officials said.
Crews raced to free dirt from the person’s face and discovered that they were still conscious. Then, first responders started the hourslong process of digging the person out by hand, according to Edneyville Fire & Rescue.
“This was a lengthy, tedious and labor intensive operation,” the rescue department wrote Oct. 20 on Facebook.
Rescuers responded at about 5 p.m. Oct. 19 and found a “partial collapse of dirt” near a home’s foundation wall. Photos that the department posted on social media show first responders near a steep drop-off.
Outside the home, crews reported discovering that two people were trapped, including one who was stuck “waist deep.” That person was freed within about 30 minutes.
But the second person was trapped underground, pinned between a rock and a basement wall. Crews took an hour to uncover the top of the person’s head and then their face, officials wrote.
“At this time city of Hendersonville public works was contacted about use of their vacuum truck, this to be used to remove dirt faster than by hand,” officials wrote. “It was brought to the scene but unable to get complete access (due) to the location and terrain on the backside of the home. Crews kept digging out by hand.”
The person was finally freed at about 10:30 p.m. and taken to a hospital. First responders in their Facebook post didn’t have an update but said the patient had no life-threatening injuries at the scene.
In response to a request for information, the N.C. Department of Labor told McClatchy News via email that it launched an inspection related to the incident.
Edneyville Fire & Rescue is based in Henderson County, roughly 20 miles south of the popular mountain town of Asheville.
This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Crews spend hours digging out person stuck 10 to 15 feet below ground, NC photos show."
