WOLFEBORO, N.H. --
Crews said an excavator tipped over at a construction site in Wolfeboro Friday night, pinning its operator inside.
About 50 volunteer construction workers from New Hampshire and Vermont were hard at work building a new Kingdom Hall for the Jehovah's Witnesses on Middleton Road in Wolfeboro. Many watched as this excavator tried to lower a piece of heavy equipment into the foundation and tipped over
"It was pretty terrifying. We weren't sure if the gentleman inside was OK. In fact, most of us were sure he was not," congregation elder Jason Ruff said.
The operator of the excavator, a man from Woodsville, was trapped. The cage collapsed so tightly around him, his helmet was lodged and he could barely turn his head.
"He was pinned inside and some of the volunteers on the site were already in the process of attempting to stabilize the excavator. (They were) working with the fire rescue members and used wooden blocks, rescue air bags and our jaws of life,” said Deputy Chief Tom Zotti, of the Wolfeboro Fire Department.
Ruff said, "There were a lot of prayers going on at the time, of course.”
The man was freed in just over an hour, conscious and grateful.
"He was checked in at Huggins Hospital. He was released just a little while ago and he's on his way home to Woodsville now," Ruff said.
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