Trapped man treads water for hours in open pit at old restaurant, Massachusetts cops say
A man was taken to a hospital after he became trapped in 8 feet of ocean water inside an open pit at an old restaurant in Massachusetts, police said.
The 43-year-old treaded water for more than two hours on Sept. 22 in the pit at a construction site where the Atlantica restaurant was formerly located in Cohasset, according to the city’s police department.
The Cohasset man, who works for an LLC that owns part of the building, eventually freed himself, the department said in a Sept. 23 news release. He was hurt and potentially hypothermic, a 911 caller told dispatchers.
His injuries weren’t life threatening, according to police.
When authorities responded the afternoon of Sept. 22, they found the “large open pit inside a dark kitchen” area at the construction site, police said.
The next morning, Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators arrived to investigate the site, where the pit wasn’t marked and was left open, according to police. As a federal agency, OSHA investigates incidents in which an employee becomes injured, sick or dies at a work site.
The Cohasset Building Department will help OSHA and work alongside the property’s owners to ensure the construction site is safe, police said.
Cohasset is a coastal town about a 20-mile drive southeast from Boston.
This story was originally published September 24, 2024 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Trapped man treads water for hours in open pit at old restaurant, Massachusetts cops say."
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