Man left buried up to his neck in sand after falling into a hole while chasing a lizard is freed

Beachgoer, 29, ‘possibly on drugs’ is left buried up to his neck in sand after falling into a hole while ‘chasing a bearded dragon down a hole’

  • A 29-year-old-man has been rescued after being buried up to his neck at beach
  • Rescue operation was launched at the Queensland beach to free the man 
  • The man allegedly fell into the two metre hole while chasing a lizard off beach

A 29-year-old man who fell into a hole and was buried up to his neck on an Australian beach has finally been freed after four hours. 

Emergency workers spent hours slowly digging the man out of the hole, making sure not to upset the ground around him and managed to free him on Thursday afternoon. 

A front end loader was also brought in to help with the rescue operation, as it looked like a tree would have to be uprooted to get him out safely, 9 News reported. 

Emergency workers moved quickly but carefully to free the trapped man 

A front end loader was also brought in to help with the rescue operation, as it looked like a tree would have to be uprooted to get him out safely

A front end loader was also brought in to help with the rescue operation, as it looked like a tree would have to be uprooted to get him out safely

The 29-year-old man fell into the two-metre-deep hole at Urangan, a suburb of Hervey Bay in Queensland, while chasing a lizard into the sand dunes on Thursday morning.

Police said the man was known to them and allege he may have been under the influence of drugs when he chased a ‘bearded dragon’ into the dunes before a ‘sinkhole’ suddenly swallowed him up.

He was buried up to his neck and authorities were left working out how to free him.

Witnesses immediately called emergency services at 11.30am on Thursday. 

Firefighters and local police raced to the scene and launched the rescue operation, The Courier Mail reported. 

A dramatic rescue operation is underway after a man fell into a hole and was left buried up to his neck at a Urangan beach near Hervey Bay, Queensland 

A dramatic rescue operation is underway after a man fell into a hole and was left buried up to his neck at a Urangan beach near Hervey Bay, Queensland 

Emergency workers used buckets and their bare hands to dig the trapped man out of the sand (Urangan Beach pictured)

Emergency workers used buckets and their bare hands to begin digging the trapped man out of the sand.

The ground around the man first had to be secured before digging commenced, in order to limit the risk of the man being fully covered. 

Council workers secured the area around the man while the rescue operation continues.

 

Advertisement



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk