Pa. university cafeteria worker is pulled into dumbwaiter, stuck for 2 hours before rescue
By APFriday, April 2, 2010
Pa. cafeteria worker stuck in dumbwaiter for hours
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A cafeteria worker at an eastern Pennsylvania university has been accidentally pulled into a narrow shaft connecting floors and been trapped for two hours before being rescued.
It was around lunchtime Friday when the Lehigh University worker got stuck in the shaft of a dumbwaiter, a type of small elevator for carrying food trays from the second floor to the first floor.
Student Taha Haque says he held the man’s legs while firefighters worked to free him. He says the worker might have been trying to yell down the shaft to someone when his apron got caught.
Witnesses say rescue workers used a device like the Jaws of Life to pry the man out.
University spokeswoman Jennifer Tucker says the worker was conscious and talking when he went to a hospital.
Information from: The Morning Call, www.mcall.com
