BRIDGEWATER, MASS. (WHDH) - Crews rescued a worker who was trapped inside of a freight train car filled with coal for hours in Bridgewater Tuesday, officials said.
Police and firefighters were called to the scene after the worker became partly buried in the coal at around 9 a.m. He was trapped while directing coal into the drain of a train car at the Stiles & Hart Brick Company.
The man was extricated from the car at around 1:30 p.m.
He was seen being pulled from the train and then lowered from a ladder onto a gurney. He was taken by ambulance to a medical helicopter.
“Right now he seems stable, seems to be doing well, he’s talking — laughing and joking with the rescuers,” said Bridgewater Fire Deputy Chief Glen Grafton.
Flying over the scene near noon, SKY7-HD spotted firefighters and crews climbing up ladders and using boards to attempt to stabilize the coal that trapped the worker.
Inside the coal-filled freight train car, the worker was conscious and alert, but buried up to his waist, officials said.
Officials said the coal acted like water — whenever crews tried to bring it away from the trapped worker, the coal came back in on him.
“It takes a long time because we need to clear an area around the victim, put trench panels in to keep the victim safe, but then also we needed to offload some of the coal, so that if the coal did shift, it would hopefully shift away from him,” said Chief Rob O’Brian, team leader with the Plymouth County technical rescue team.
A machine removed much of the coal through a long hose.
Lincoln Andrews III, the owner of the Stiles & Hart Brick Company, said he was grateful for a happy ending.
“I care very, very, very, very deeply about my employees and I, frankly, couldn’t live with myself if one of them got hurt,” Andrews said.
He said OSHA inspectors were on scene due to an unrelated, previously scheduled matter.
O’Brian said the man who was trapped had a smile on his face as he was hoisted out of the coal.
“I think he was happy to be out,” he said.
Grafton said the man was laughing and joking with rescuers. Though he had no apparent injuries, Grafton said the man was taken to a hospital to be evaluated. Grafton said he expected the man would be monitored “at least overnight.”
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