WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - Firefighters rescued a man Friday trapped under a skid loader at a burial vault business in Waterloo.
The incident happened around 6 a.m. when the hydraulics that operate the arms of the skid loader bucket failed, sending one of the arms crashing down on a mechanic working on the machinery and pinning him, The Courier reported.
Waterloo Fire Department Battalion Chief Ben Peterson said the bucket happened to be titled downward and hit the cement first, relieving enough weight from the arm that it saved the mechanic’s life.
Crews inflated air bags to lift part of the machine’s weigh off the man, then used extrication tools to cut the skid loader arm off the man’s back, Peterson said.
The man, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital for injuries. His condition was not released.
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