At 10:18 on January 21, the Gulin County fire brigade in Luzhou received a report that a trench collapse caused by sewer excavation on the right side of Yingbin Avenue in Gulin Town, Gulin County, had left a worker in danger of being “buried alive” at any moment. After 30 minutes of rescue efforts, firefighters successfully freed the worker.
At 10:25, the Gulin County fire brigade dispatched two fire engines and 12 firefighters to the scene. Workers who were attempting to rescue the victim themselves told the rescue personnel that the collapsed earth had buried one worker from the waist down. The commander immediately surveyed the scene and found that the collapse on the right side of the trench had created a rock cavity, with the soil above at risk of collapsing again at any moment. The commander quickly organized firefighters to use wooden poles to shore up and reinforce the area beneath the cavity, and sent two firefighters into the trench to clear the soil and carry out the rescue.
At 10:30, the rescue operation was in full swing, with two firefighters entering the trench. After more than 30 minutes of intense rescue work, all public security police and firefighters successfully freed the trapped worker. Upon examination, the trapped worker had only superficial injuries and was otherwise unharmed.