Forklift Driver Survives Being Buried For 55,000 Tonnes Of Cheese For Eight HOURS
A man has survived after being buried for eight hours under 55,000 tonnes of cheese.
Forklift driver Tomasz Wiszniewski was trapped after large metal shelving collapsed inside a warehouse in Linstock, Shropshire on Friday.
He was located by firefighters who used a drone to find him, before cutting into the side of the building to pull him out.
Mr Wiszniewski was in his forklift truck when all the cheese came down on him, and it is believed the vehicle’s protective cage saved his life.
Family and friends of Mr Wiszniewski, a Polish man in his early 30s from Telford, Shropshire who is about to get married, cheered when he emerged down a ladder from the building.
He smiled and chatted with paramedics after the rescues and was taken to hospital on Friday night as a precaution.
More than 70 firefighters worked to save him. The first call was received at 9.40am on Friday and he was freed just before 6pm.
Firefighters built a bridge of wooden pallets to help Mr Wiszniewski out of the building.
Rod Hammerton, deputy chief fire officer for Shropshire Fire Service, said: “He was in his forklift truck with three to four metres of 20kg blocks of cheese on him.
“This really was an incredible operation with over 70 firefighters from multiple agencies.”
Debbie Belcher, 48, the daughter of warehouse owner Francis Edwards, said: “It’s a miracle - he walked out. I think 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 and that’s his mother and his fiancée.
“There was hope from the start, but this is just a miracle.”
(Pictures: SWNS)
