Crews rescue worker who was trapped under the rubble after Kentucky construction site accident
Firefighters in Kentucky’s largest city rescued a person trapped under rubble at a construction site near downtown Louisville
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Firefighters in Kentucky's largest city rescued a person trapped under rubble Thursday in an hourslong operation at a construction site near the city’s downtown.
The rescue was shown live on local Louisville television stations hours after the construction worker fell into a void and some debris fell on top of him around noon on Thursday. Paramedics were on hand to place the worker onto a stretcher, cover him with a blanket and transport him to an ambulance under bright lights set up to assist the rescue.
One rescue worker patted the worker on the back as he was being hoisted out.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg praised the rescue team for having “saved the life of an individual who was in grave jeopardy all day today.”
Greenberg said rescue workers had an “incredibly difficult trench rescue.” He said the team at the Louisville fire department “shined again today and rescued this individual” who was transported to University of Louisville Hospital.
Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill reported earlier that the worker had been speaking with rescuers but couldn't move. The worker was located about 10 to 12 feet (3 to 3.7 meters) below ground, O’Neill said.
After the rescue, O'Neill said the construction worker was part of a demolition team working at the site and fell into a “void space.”
“All kinds of rubble and dirt and rock completely buried this individual," he said, leaving him not just stuck but "completely buried.”
The team — specialized in trench rescue and confined space rescue — arrived within minutes and “they were able to talk to him,” said O'Neill. "He got very fortunate that he had a little bit of a void space around him. So he was able to breathe.”
Rescuers continued to work to free the worker Thursday evening after night fell. Officials had a crane and ladders going into the hole, which was several feet wide.
The fire chief said the worker was buried and pinned in place by gravel, dirt and large chunks of concrete, which required them to dig out the debris by hand, clearing the area around the man’s arms and chest so he could receive medical aid.
There were five other workers at the scene when the man fell. They were working at the site of a former corrections building that is being demolished to make way for a medical campus.
The fire chief called it a “very long, very tedious, very slow-going process to do it safely, to make sure that you do not cause additional injury to the individual.”
“All credit goes to the firefighters here in Louisville," O'Neill said. "The men and women on the Louisville Fire Department that got here, used their skills, used their talents, used their just absolute tenacity to get in there, dig that person out.”
Earlier this week just a few miles away, a Louisville manufacturing plant exploded, killing two workers and damaging dozens of nearby homes. The cause of the explosion is not yet known.