FEBRUARY 17, 2015
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
A construction worker in San Antonio survived a brush with
death Monday night after he became buried chest deep in a mixture of concrete
and sand.
According to a report from KENS 5 TV, the man and a
co-worker were filling a 20-foot trench with flowable fill Monday evening as
part of the installation of drainage pipes when they noticed the fill was
flowing around a metal plate meant to contain the mixture.
The workers jumped in to put down sandbags, the station
reports, but the plate and bags soon gave way.
The co-worker was able to escape the trench but the other
man was quickly buried chest deep in the mixture, which acted much like
quicksand, San Antonio Fire officials told the station.
“It’s concrete, so it’s kind of
semi-fluid,” assistant fire chief Robert Mikel told the station.
“And as you dig some around, some more kinda comes and takes its place.”
Dozens of rescue workers dug the 60-year-old man out using
shovels and buckets and he was eventually lifted out of the muck on a back
board.
Rescuers were worried the man would suffer the effects of hypothermia
due to the chilly temperature and wet concrete.
The rescue took 90 minutes but the man was hospitalized in
stable condition.