Worker rescued after being trapped in train car full of coal in Bridgewater

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — A worker trapped in a train car full of coal is in safe hands after being rescued in Bridgewater on Tuesday.

The incident happened on Tuesday morning shortly after 9 a.m. near the Stiles and Hart Brick Company on Cook Street.

Members of the Bridgewater Fire Department, the Plymouth County Tech Rescue Team and Mike Flaherty of APC Corporation were eventually able to free the man by using industrial vacuum equipment.

Video from the scene shows crews using a pully to free the 26-year-old worker who was stuck up to their waist in the rail car.

Worker rescued after being trapped in train car full of coal in Bridgewater

Once freed, the man was taken into an ambulance and driven to an awaiting medical helicopter that would take him to a Boston hospital.

Plymouth County Tech Rescue Chief Rob O’Brien told Boston 25 it took around 20 people to complete the rescue. According to O’Brien, the vacuum equipment was necessary due to the pressure of the coal surrounding the worker.

“The weight of the coal that’s on top of him from his waist down there’s actually a tremendous amount of weight that goes there,” O’Brien explained. “so you would actually injure him if you throw a line on him put a crane to him and try to lift him out, you’d do a lot of damage.”

“There’s always a health risk associated with any type of compression injury when you’re in something like that, whether it’s coal, sand, whatever it might be so that’s why he needs to be evaluated and monitored at least overnight,” said Deputy Chief Glen Grafton with the Bridgewater Fire Department.

“We’ve been doing this job since 1979 and we’ve never had this incident before,” said Lincoln Andrews, owner of Stiles and Hart Brick Company.

Andrews says he’s glad the employee will be okay after an intense rescue effort took most of the day.

“I could not care anymore about their jobs and their safety than I do,” said Andrews.

It is unclear how the man became stuck, officials said.

The worker’s name has not been released and his current condition is unknown.

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Worker rescued after being trapped in train car full of coal in Bridgewater (Bridgewater Fire Department)

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