Firefighters rescue worker trapped at bottom of 40-foot hole in Ballantyne

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Emergency crews worked tirelessly Tuesday morning to rescue a contractor who they said was stuck at the bottom of a 40-foot concrete hole in the Ballantyne area.

Police and fire crews were called just after 10:30 a.m. to the scene off Bridgehampton Club Drive, near Ardrey Kell Road.

Chopper 9 Skyzoom flew over the scene where emergency personnel gathered in an area of new construction near the North Carolina/South Carolina border.

Dozens of first responders were on top of what appeared to be a concrete foundation, peering down a rectangular hole with a ladder in it.

Charlotte Water officials said the person who was stuck at the bottom of the hole was a contractor working on the Clems Branch Pump Station project.

(Watch video below of firefighters pulling injured man from concrete hole)

The Pineville Fire Department tweeted that they, along with the CFD and Pleasant Valley Fire Department, were on the scene and in the middle of a “confined space rescue.”

Officials with the Pleasant Valley Fire Department told Channel 9 the man was working at the bottom of the hole when a piece of equipment fell on his leg.

Crews were able to use a ladder truck to lower a backboard down the shaft to reach the injured man.

Around 11:45 a.m., firefighters were able to pull the man, who was strapped to the backboard, from the hole. He was stabilized and loaded into an ambulance. Paramedics said he was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Greg Nicholson, chief of the Pleasant Valley volunteer fire department, said the subcontractor made sure the worker had enough oxygen until the rescue crews could get to him.

“He was fine. He'd hurt his leg down there and was just in some pain,” said Nicholson. “We placed him on a backboard just for protection, then put him in a stokes basket and brought him up.”

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