Sad scenes at site of horrific accident: Milan's colleagues dug him out with excavator, then with bare hands

Photo: Nikola Tomic

Works have been suspended today at the site where an accident happened yesterday, when soil, pulled by water from a burst pipe, buried workers building a sewage network.

Recommended

Telegraf.rs learned at the scene that although inspectors were there last night, they are expected again today, and until their work is done, the site is closed. The workers showed up today only to secure the excavated pit.

As Telegarf.rs reported, the key moment in the rescue of worker Milan Rajkovis, who was stuck underground for eight hours, was when a colleague managed to clear the soil over his head which allowed him to breathe.

"After the collapse, I saw a man running into the excavator and immediately starting to dig with it, and when he got close enough to the (trapped) workers, he jumped into the hole he'd dug and continued to dig with his bare hands. An ambulance team reacted quickly, thank God everyone is fine," an eyewitness told Telegraf.rs.

One of the firefighters also got buried by the collapsed soil during the rescue operation, but he was quickly pulled out safely and was released from the hospital soon after, while two workers had to be treated at the VMA.

Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic said that the firefighters were not allowed to use machines because one worker was completely buried, so they also had to dig with their hands.

(Telegraf.rs)