A 5-year-old Indiana boy was rescued without injury after falling 30 feet down a pipe, fire officials said.
Firefighters in Evansville responded and found the boy inside a 16-inch-wide pipe at around 9 p.m. local time on July 4, the Evansville Fire Department said.
The pipe was too narrow for firefighters to rescue the boy themselves. As a result, they decided “to lower a swing set seat down to him,” the department said, ABC News reported.
Wishing the little boy who fell down an abandoned well pipe last night and was rescued by @EvansvilleFire (see picture of the pipe)
First reports incorrectly indicated it was a storm drain. However @EWSUtility does not have a sewer or storm drain on private property. pic.twitter.com/QX9d33TCKR— EWSU (@EWSUtility) July 5, 2019
“The boy was instructed to sit in the seat like he was riding a horse so they could pull him up while the sides of the pipe kept him from falling off,” the fire department added.
About 90 minutes later, at 10:30 p.m., the child was rescued.
Officials said he suffered no apparent injuries other than scrapes and bruises, said officials.
— Evan Gorman (@Evan14news) July 5, 2019
The boy was also conscious and alert the entire time, fire officials told ABC.
Oxygen was pumped into the storm drain during the ordeal, they said.
I was set to cover the fireworks tonight, but instead I witnessed Evansville’s first responders save a life, working over an hour to pull a boy out of a 30 foot water well. They are heroes, and I am honored to work with a team that was able to broadcast it live as it unfolded. pic.twitter.com/Hr4r4IXoi4
— Amanda Mueller Eyewitness News (@AmandaMuellerTV) July 5, 2019
Initial reports suggested that the hole was a storm drain. A local utility company said that it was “an abandoned well pipe.”
“First reports incorrectly indicated it was a storm drain. However @EWSUtility does not have a sewer or storm drain on private property,” the Evansville Water & Sewer Utility wrote.
A three-year-old boy has been rescued from a storm drain in Evansville, Indiana Thursday evening. pic.twitter.com/xV6MwvFcy6
— CBS Newspath (@cbsnewspath) July 5, 2019
Officials did not provide further updates about the incident.
Newborn Pulled from Storm Drain
Rescue workers in South Africa pulled a newborn baby from a storm drain in a 4-hour operation that ended with whoops and cheers from onlookers, The Associated Press reported.
Rescue Care Paramedics, one of the groups that helped to extricate the infant girl in Durban, says it is unclear why the baby was “dumped” and that police are investigating.
The group says emergency responders went to the scene on Monday after residents heard a baby crying from deep inside the concrete storm drain. It says the area was dug up and a chisel and hammer were used to break into the drain.
Newborn baby rescued from storm drain https://t.co/0XwUNjeGC6 #NEWS pic.twitter.com/xkAuW3Nq65
— Woody (@Harley_Woody) February 13, 2019
Video shows a rescuer lifting the baby to a colleague standing above a pit as people celebrate the successful rescue. South African media say the infant is being treated in a hospital.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
