‘Unbelievably calm’: man trapped under an excavator at worksite

A man has been taken to hospital after he was trapped by a small excavator at his worksite.

A man was injured on a worksite in Fyansford.

A man has been taken to hospital after he was trapped by a small excavator at a Fyansford worksite on Saturday morning.

Witness Frans Bruno Esposti said he was walking to work and came across the trapped man, who called out to him for help.

“He was unbelievably calm,” he said.

“I was strolling past in my own world, and he called out, ‘hey, mate would you mind holding up for a minute’.”

“He called the ambos himself.”

Mr Esposti said it appeared the machine had tipped over on its side and his foot was stuck under it.

Mr Esposti said he used a big metal pole to try and leverage the machine off the man, to no avail.

“I was pushing down on this thing and it didn’t budge,” he said.

“I don’t know how much it weighed, but it certainly had plenty of weight in it.”

Mr Esposti said emergency services then suddenly descended on the scene, and he continued on his way to work, but he wasn’t sure how they managed to get the man free in the end.

A Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) spokesman said firefighters responded to an incident at 10.20am on Elevation Drive, after callers to triple-0 reported a person was trapped under an excavator.

“Firefighters arrived on scene to find a person’s foot was stuck under a small excavator,” he said.

The FRV spokesman said FRV crews, with assistance from the Country Fire Authority, worked to free the person, with the situation under control just after 10.30am.

“WorkSafe was notified of the incident,” he said.

Police, paramedics and SES crews were also on scene.

An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said the man was transported by road ambulance to Geelong hospital with a lower body injury.

Originally published as ‘Unbelievably calm’: man trapped under an excavator at worksite