A man buried under cheese for eight hours at a food distribution warehouse in Hinstock, England, was freed by emergency personnel Friday.
According to the BBC News, Tomasz Wiszniewski was inside his forklift when metal shelving inside the warehouse collapsed, burying him under cheese around 9:40 a.m. Authorities believe that the protective cage around the forklift ultimately saved the man's life.
The Mirror reported that the shelves, stacked 18-meters high, held 44-pound blocks of cheddar and red Leicester cheese when they collapsed. Dogs and a drone were used to find Wiszniewski still alive after the incident.
"Astonishingly, after so long trapped under the contents of the warehouse, the worker was able to walk out of the warehouse," a West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said,
according to The Independent.
"He was then assessed by the paramedics from the hazardous area response team and was subsequently taken to Princess Royal Hospital (in Telford) as a precaution, but he appears uninjured," the spokesman said.
The Mirror reported that 13 fire crews along with the hauling firm Edwards Transport were called to the scene. Wiszniewski, a Polish national, was freed from the wreckage about 6:05 p.m.
"It's a miracle – he walked out," said Debbie Belcher, 48, daughter of the hauling firm owner, Francis Edwards. "You can feel here the sense of relief. We whooped and cheered as he came out, we couldn't have asked for better. I'm relieved but I know there are two women who will be far more relieved – his mother and his fiancée."
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said that the search and rescue was one of the biggest in the service's history. The BBC News stated that an investigation is continuing into the collapse.
"It's metal racking, virtually up to the ceiling, pretty high, and it's full of product of various size," said Shropshire Fire and Rescue spokesman Malcolm Stevenson. "The racking is organized in corridors. Most of that has fallen over and collapsed."
Related Stories: