Man rescued from grain bin ‘awake and talking’

MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, Ark. (KAIT) - Fire officials said a man trapped in a grain bin Tuesday morning has been rescued and is “awake and talking.”

Osceola Fire Chief Peter Hill said the incident happened around 9 a.m. on Nov. 22 on Highway 140 near Etowah in Mississippi County.

Just before 12:30 p.m., Captain Ray Williams said the man, who was not identified, had been rescued.

“He’s awake and talking,” Williams told reporter Alejandra Hernández.

Officials said the man apparently fell into the bin and was unable to get out.

Crews from surrounding communities, including Keiser, responded to the scene to help in the rescue operations.

First responders arrived at the scene about 15 minutes after the call came in. Bud Gore, a training officer with the Osceola Fire Department. said there were people there already trying to help.

“We found the victim, the people working there with him were trying to get him out at that time. He was trapped pretty much to his neck,” he said.

Gore said it was important to try and get the grain off the victim fast.

“The grain is constantly putting pressure on the victim. It makes it harder for them to breathe. Every time they move, it just keeps crashing down on them, so we must get that grain off there as quick we can,” he said.

Steel plates around the victim and tubes were used to remove grain and pressure.

While waiting for vac trucks to assist, crews had to find other ways to relieve pressure from the victim.

“We decided to cut the grain bin to let some of the grain bin lower the level in the bin then when the vac truck arrived, we actually used the vac truck to remove the grain, most of the grain from around the victim,” Gore said.

The rescue took about three hours, and during the rescue, a medic was injured in the process.

“While we were evacuating grain from around the victim, while he was tending to the victim, he did find himself engulfed in grain as well,” Gore said.

That rescue took about ten minutes, according to Gore. The first victim was able to walk away from the incident after receiving medical attention.

The medic, who was injured, was airlifted to Memphis with non-life-threatening conditions.

Region 8 News will continue to follow this story for new details.

Copyright 2022 KAIT. All rights reserved.