A man in Riverside was rescued from an 18-inch underground drain pipe Saturday after being trapped there for three days, according to Riverside police.
Riverside police and fire departments responded to a call around 11:40 a.m. about “a reported person inside a drain tunnel screaming for help,” according to an incident report.
Riverside Fire Department Division Chief Greg White said the man was 20 feet into the pipe and “unable to free himself.”
“It was a small pipe,” said Capt. Steve Hallgreen, public information officer with the department, so it sounds like he got stuck “due to the size.”
Crews took about 2 hours to get the man out as they assembled a technical rescue team and the right equipment, Hallgreen said. The incident report states help also was requested from Corona Urban Search and Rescue.
Video from OnScene.TV shows a number of first responders at the scene preparing gear. They also had to remove considerable debris from the pipe first.
It appears the man may have entered the pipe from a canal that runs along the train tracks near Commerce and Cottage streets in Riverside, Hallgreen said. The pipe lies below surface and runs parallel to the ground, draining into the canal.
“He was brought out the same way that he went in,” he said.
The man was initially treated on the scene for unspecified injuries and transported to a local hospital, where he was listed as stable. Video shows him being placed on a stretcher.
Police shut down the train tracks, which are used by several lines, while the fire department conducted the rescue.
Hallgreen said “it’s very infrequent” that the department gets a call about someone trapped in a pipe.
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