The operation lasted for more than eight hours, until specialist rescuers were finally able to reach the man and pull him out alive, to the applause of onlookers.
Italian firefighters rescuing a man who was trapped in a tunnel in Rome.Credit:AP
As they worked to free the “mole man”, as one Italian newspaper dubbed him, they gave him oxygen, replicating techniques employed to save the survivors of the frequent earthquakes that strike Italy.
“Help, I beg you to get me out of here,” the man, in his 30s, reportedly told the rescue team. “I can’t hold out much longer.”
He was extracted from the tunnel and placed on a stretcher with a brace around his neck, at which point he asked for water – and a cigarette. “Mamma, they’re pulling him out, you can see his feet,” said a child who watched the drama unfold from a balcony.
The man was taken to hospital, where his condition was said to be not life-threatening.
“For hours he was imploring us to save him. It’s a miracle he’s alive,” a rescuer told the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.
“It was a complex operation. The tunnel probably collapsed because of the sandy soil and, perhaps, because of all the rain we have had in the last few days.”
Weeks of searing temperatures in Italy have given way in recent days to violent thunderstorms and heavy downpours.
Italy celebrates its midsummer ferragosto holiday on Monday, when the country grinds to a standstill and banks and offices are closed.
Loading
“For about a week I heard the sounds of a pneumatic drill coming from the empty shop during the evenings.
“I thought they were just renovating it. There was light coming from behind the shutters.
“Now I understand what was going on,” said Alessandro Quaranta, who runs a wine bar close to the abandoned shop.
The Telegraph, London
