Emergency crews free worker trapped 20 feet down in hole following collapse

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — A worker is recovering after he was pinned in a trench that collapsed.

It happened Friday afternoon at a construction site along Persian Ivy Way in Paulding County.

Firefighters told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington that as soon as they arrived shortly before noon, they knew it was bad and feared the man might not survive.

[PHOTOS: Man rescued after trench collapses in Paulding County]

The man somehow became pinned in the trench while he and other construction crew members worked on a newly built home in the Dallas subdivision.

“He was buried to about to his chest. He was talking and breathing fine. Our rescuers attempted to approach the trench and determined that the soil was unstable, so they backed away and secured the scene,” said Lt. Steve Mapes with the Paulding County Fire Department.

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Emergency crews from Paulding and Cobb counties assessed the situation, dug around the trench and were able to safely pull the man out and get him to an ambulance.

Emergency officials said the man was talking and appeared to not be in any real pain.

He was still airlifted to a nearby hospital to be evaluated.

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