Man Injured in Pugwash Trench Collapse

A man was taken to hospital by air ambulance following injury in a collapsed trench at the salt mine in Pugwash.

Emergency personnel were called to a "confined space rescue" just before ten o’clock this morning.

The man, in his forties, was buried up to his shoulders when a trench collapsed. It is not known whether he was in the trench at the time of the collapse, but some speculate he was carried into the trench when it collapsed which might explain how he kept his head above the debris.

Mine personnel and volunteers from Pugwash Fire Department helped to free him so paramedics could tend to his immediate needs.

He was taken by ambulance to the Life Flight landing pad behind the Pugwash Hospital where he was evacuated to the regional hospital. The extent of his injuries was not immediately known.

The trench is part of a project to build a new wash plant at the mine. Yesterday’s brief but heavy rain may have contributed to the instability of the trench.

The photo shows the man being lifted from the ambulance to board the Life Flight helicopter bound for the regional hospital.

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