Detroit – Firefighters from East Detroit have released an employee of the water and sanitation department of a manhole in which he fell on Monday morning.

The 62-year-old man was removed from the manhole, described as "three feet out of three", around noon, according to Gene Biondo, Deputy Fire Chief of Detroit.

The fall was reported shortly after 10 am and authorities responded to Mack Block 17100 on the Grosse Pointe border.

The man who fell was an "observer" working near the top while two others were deeper into the hole.

"In a way, he slipped" and fell in, said Biondo. The other two were able to go out, but the observer himself was made still by the fall.

"There was no way out" without being fired, said Biondo.

The rescue efforts were the result of elbow fat, skill and luck, Biondo said.

Six fire service experts specializing in "confined space rescues" were in the area at the time of the call.

The extrication required about eight ropes, with "probably 20 to 30 knots" on each rope, knots that Biondo "called critical" in such a rescue.

"All of them were exactly what we had trained," said Biondo.

Biondo said Monday's rescue was "not very common" and would put everyone involved in the department's opinion.

"It's a series of top quality knots and pulleys," said Biondo.

After the rescue, the doctors treated the victim at the scene of the accident. It was expected that he would be transported to St. John's Hospital for further care.

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