SEATTLE — A man buried up to his chest by an avalanche of dry cement at an industrial plant was in serious condition Friday after firefighters extracted him from a mound of gray powder, officials said.
The 29-year-old worker at the Ash Grove cement plant was trapped by the collapsing wall of dry cement late Friday morning. He was operating an excavator at a ground-level opening of a dome-shaped reservoir when dry cement rushed down, burying him and knocking over the vehicle, Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said.
Rescue crews were able to extract the man about an hour and a half after they reached the south Seattle plant.
The man, who was not identified, was taken to Harborview Medical Center. Vander Houwen said he sustained minor injuries. A Harborview nursing supervisor said Friday evening he was still being evaluated and would be admitted. She termed his condition serious but declined to comment further because of privacy rules.
The man remained alert and conscious during the rescue, even using a shovel at some point to help the crew of firefighters trying to rescue him, Vander Houwen said. Firefighters also gave him oxygen during the rescue. No other worker was injured.
“It was certainly a difficult rescue because (the cement) continued to fall on this person,” Vander Houwen added.
A couple of vacuum trucks were called in to help suck the cement powder out as well. There was so much dust that rescuers were able to fill two trucks.
Dust-covered firefighters walked off the site with shovels in hand. The rescuers had to use face masks because of the large amounts of dust coming from the reservoir.
In a statement, officials from Overland Park, Kan.-based Ash Grove said they were working with authorities to determine the cause of the incident.
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