Man rescued from 15-foot shaft in DeKalb

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News spoke to workers Tuesday about hearing a man moaning in agony after he fell down a 15-foot shaft.

It took about an hour for rescue crews to get the man out. It happened at about noon at an office building in the 1700 block of Mount Vernon Road in Dunwoody.

"It was horrible," a dental worker who heard the man told Channel 2's Tom Jones.

"I just heard him. He was just kind of moaning. He was hurt," she said.

DeKalb County Fire and Rescue were able to pull the man out of the shaft by using a pulley system. The Technical Rescue Team went through a lower window and tied a harness on him and then pulled him up.

"We just very methodically, very carefully we just pulled him straight up. This is what they train for," Capt. Eric Jackson said.

Firefighters say the man was standing on a grate on top of the shaft working on a window.

The grate then gave way, sending him crashing down.

"He was just like hollering; like painful," said Jake Akers, describing what he heard as he noticed the injured worker outside his window.

Jackson says the man suffered moderate injuries. He says it probably wasn't a good idea to stand on the grate over the shaft. Workers are glad he's relatively OK.

"It is very deep. I can't imagine falling down there," the dental worker said.

Firefighters were not able to supply the injured worker's name or who he worked for.

WSBTV