Five fire rescue units had to work together to rescue a man who was buried in clay and sand.
He was at a construction site near Bramshot Avenue in Charlton when a trench collapsed and trapped him.
He was buried up to his waist before crews were able to rescue him – an operation which took just over six hours.
It was a big job, with firefighters “excavating sand and clay from the trench to increase access”.
While doing this, they also had to “shore up and stabilise the trench to prevent any further collapse”.
At one point, crews used the London Fire Brigade’s 32-metre ladder.
The firefighters were joined by the London Ambulance Service Hazardous Area Response Team, who provided medical care throughout everything.
Yesterday crews in #Charlton carried out a rescue operation after a trench at a building site collapsed, trapping a man in sand and clay. Urban Search and Rescue teams were deployed to the scene as part of our response.
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) April 17, 2024
Find out more about this incident https://t.co/gyBtnJWR73 pic.twitter.com/AW3wQ3PAYj
Photos show multiple emergency workers in protective gear climbing into the trench.
Firefighters have to carry out many different types of terrifying rescues.
In February, a video showed them saving a man hanging from a window ledge in Whitechapel after an e-bike fire.
The blaze broke out on a third-floor flat on John Fisher Street and most of the flat was damaged by smoke and fire.
Although two people managed to escape, two men weren’t able to as the fire blocked their exit - meaning they had to hang out the window and be rescued by firefighters.
Neighbour Danny McLaughlin, who witnessed one of the dramatic rescues unfold, said: “I heard shouting that woke me up.
“I looked out of one of my windows and saw one of the men hanging from a third-floor window ledge in the neighbouring block.
“His legs were being held, to stop him falling, by a neighbour in the window of the flat below the fire.”
Around 40 firefighters tackled the fire for over an hour before the incident was declared over.
