Worker rescued after falling down manhole at Amherst College

AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - A construction worker had to be rescued after falling down a manhole on the Amherst College campus late Friday morning.

College spokesperson Caroline Hanna told 22News that it was before 10:45 A.M. that the man, who was among workers doing a campus infrastructure project, fell down the manhole just outside Webster Hall.

Prior to the accident, the workers had removed the manhole cover and had put plywood over it. Hanna says that the worker made a wrong step and fell as they were trying to put the metal manhole cover back in place. The worker, who Amherst police say is in his 50's, fell about 10 feet down to an underground cement vault that houses steam pipes for the campus.

Amherst College police and town firefighters arrived, and a paramedic went down into the hole through a ladder while rescuers set-up a system of ropes and pulleys to get the worker out. Amherst police say a second paramedic then went down into the hole and helped fasten the worker, who remained conscious, to a backboard. The worker was then raised vertically out of the hole and loaded onto a waiting ambulance.

According to Hanna, the worker was brought to Cooley Dickinson Hospital , where it appears that his injuries are minor.

Hanna said that rescue crews were able to get to the victim very quickly. “Obviously, we take the safety of everyone on our campus very seriously,” she said.