Firefighters rescue a Georgia quarry worker who spent hours trapped and partially buried in gravel

DALLAS, Ga. (AP) — A worker at a Georgia rock quarry was rescued Tuesday after spending hours trapped and partially buried in a funnel-shaped hopper filled with gravel.

“He conscious and alert,” Lt. Steve Mapes of Paulding County Fire and Rescue told reporters Tuesday afternoon after the worker was pulled free. “He knows what happened. He’s talked to the rescuers. He’s complaining of pain in his back and his legs, and he’s cold.”

The man, whose name was not released, somehow got buried Tuesday morning chest-deep in gravel inside a hopper that’s about 30 feet (9 meters) deep, Mapes said. The hoppers act like giant funnels to fill trucks at the quarry in Paulding County northwest of Atlanta.

Mapes said rescue workers were able to talk with the trapped worker throughout the ordeal, which lasted roughly five hours as firefighters worked to free him without triggering a rockslide that could bury him completely.

An ambulance was standing by with paramedics to examine the worker as soon as he was freed. He was then flown by helicopter to an Atlanta hospital. The man’s condition was not immediately known.

“He was absolutely trapped,” Mapes said. “It’s just very fortunate that he wasn’t buried any worse.”