Man trapped in underground storm drain
EUGENE, Ore. -- Eugene Police Lt. Doug Mozan said a man fell into a canal near West 11th Avenue and McKinley Street, and couldn’t get out.
From there the man crawled or climbed his way more than 2 miles through a storm drain to Burlington Drive, spending more than three hours underground.
South Eugene resident Karen Chan, who was tending her backyard garden, said she heard the man screaming for help early Friday morning around 6:30 a.m.
After discovering a man was trapped in her backyard storm drain she called police.
Lt. Mozan said the man was drunk when he ventured into the storm drain and got lost.
Eugene Fire responded to the emergency call, broke the concrete around the manhole and lifted the man to safety. Eugene Fire District Chief Lance Lighty said the man had hypothermia-like symptoms. He was taken to the hospital but was reportedly uninjured. | See photos of firefighters rescuing the man from the storm drain