A warehouse worker had a lucky escape after spending four hours trapped beneath an 11 tonne pile of milkshake bottles.

The 54-year-old victim had been driving a forklift truck when a storage rack full of refrigerated goods collapsed and completely buried him.

Fire crews battled for four hours to rescue the unidentified man from under the mountain of milkshakes, milk and energy drinks on Thursday afternoon.

Pictures released by West Midland Fire Service Technical Rescue over the weekend show firefighters battling through the pile of metal racking and produce.

He remained conscious throughout the operation at the Central Supplies warehouse in Cradley, West Midslands, and firefighters say ‘he could easily have been killed’.

An ambulance crew from West Midlands Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team and fire crews from Haden Cross, Stourbridge and the West Midland Fire Service Technical Rescue team attended the scene.

Rescuers were able to make verbal contact with the victim and ensured the precarious racking was safe.

The crew were able to pinpoint exactly where the man was by inserting microphones into the pile of produce so they could reduce the risk of another landslide by moving items.

Watch Commander Anthony Dingley said: ‘It happened in a large storage area with six or seven bays of high racking. One of the racks had collapsed burying the fork lift truck and its driver under tons of refrigerated products.

‘Ten or 11 bales had dropped down with each weighing around a ton. It took us a while to get a location for him and about four hours to release him.

‘He was a brave bloke and conscious throughout. He was severely trapped with the goods all over him. It was lucky he could still breathe. He could easily have been killed.’

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Richard Hartley-Parkinson

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