30.05.2017

Lucky escape for three

Three men were rescued from a truck mounted platform ealier today in Geelong to the south west of Melbourne, Australia.

The men were working at a height of around 15 to 18 metres at a fairly long reach, with the truck, located behind a boundary fence. It seems that something caused one of the truck’s outriggers to give way causing the platform to drop several metres until eiher the boom gained some support from the fence, or the outrigger stopped sinking - either way it prevented the platform from falling further, although it remained in a precarious state of balance.
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The scene in Goolong prior to the rescue

Rescuers called in a fire ladder and also threw ropes down from the roof of the building which the men attached to their harnesses. All three were rescued without further incident, although one of them had sustained injuries to his hand, while the other two were treated for shock. If anyone took further photographs at the scene, please do send them to us, so that we might better understand what exactly went wrong. From the look of the incident we assume that the ground must have given way under the one of the rear outriggers.

UPDATE

A reader in the local area has reponded to our request and sent some photos that clearly show that one of the rear outriggers sank deeply into the ground causing the incident.
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As we suspected the ground gave way under one of the outriggers

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The outrigger sank deeply into the mud