Man survives being buried alive for eight hours beneath 55,000 tonne mountain of cheese
A forklift truck driver has been pulled alive from beneath an avalanche of cheese after being trapped for more than eight hours.
Tomasz Wiszniewski was pulled alive from the 55,000 tonne cheese mountain
Tomasz Wiszniewski was buried beneath 55,000 tonnes of cheddar and Red Leicester after an 18-metre high shelf collapsed at the factory he was working in on Friday.
Emergency services were called just after 9.40am and carried out a search after one worker was reported missing following the accident.
At first Mr Wiszniewski was feared dead, crushed beneath the dairy products.
But he was finally located by sniffer dogs and a drone and pulled from his cheesy grave just after 6pm, to cheers from family and coworkers at haulage company Edwards Transport in Hinstock, Shropshire.
It took 12 fire crews to rescue the Polish national, who lives in Telford and is due to marry later this year.
Deputy Chief fire officer Rod Hammerton said the rescue mission "was like crawling over rubble, but rubble made of giant blocks of cheese".
The scene inside the warehouse, where the forklift truck driver was buried
"This really was an incredible operation with over 70 firefighters from multiple agencies," he said.
“The metal shelving is about 18 metres high, stacked up to the ceiling with 20kg blocks of cheese.
“That has collapsed and everyone apart from one man got out.”
Emergency services outside the warehouse where the cheese shelf collapsed
"It was like crawling over rubble, but rubble made of giant blocks of cheese".
It is believed the metal frame of the forklift truck Mr Wiszniewski was driving may have saved his life, he added.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "Astonishingly, after so long trapped under the contents of the warehouse, the worker was able to walk out of the warehouse.
Tomasz Wiszniewski is led away after eight hours trapped beneath a mountain of cheese
"He was then assessed by the paramedics from the hazardous area response team and was subsequently taken to Princess Royal Hospital (in Telford) as a precaution, but he appears uninjured.
Colleague Debbie Belcher told the BBC: "The sense of relief is just immense.
"We couldn't have hoped for a better outcome."