A 5-year-old boy is recovering in hospital after he was trapped in a hole and had to be dug out by fire crews.
The youngster, who sustained only minor injuries, was left suck in the pipe for about 30 minutes on Monday before he was safely freed by firefighters and handed over the paramedics for treatment.
The alarm was raised at around 5.30pm when emergency services were alerted to the incident at Brookfields in Shannon Co Clare.
An ambulance and Garda patrol responded to the incident initially however, despite the best efforts of paramedics, they were unable to free the young boy from the pipe and requested assistance from the fire service.
It’s understood that one of the child’s legs bent backwards after he accidentally stepped into the hole and this left him wedged inside the pipe and unable to move.
Three units of the fire brigade from Shannon Town attended the scene which was just a few hundred metres from their base and close to the local Garda station.
On arrival, fire service personnel could only see the child’s head and shoulders above the ground. They erected a protective screen around the scene so they could assess the situation and decide how best to release the boy.
Fire crews used shovels to dig earth from around the pipe and were then able to remove the pipe in sections. Once free, the young boy was handed into the care of National Ambulance Service paramedics to be assessed and treated.
As a precaution, the child was transported to University Hospital Limerick for treatment for what are believed to be minor injuries.
One local said: “This is family is not from here but have lived here for a while. They’re lovely. I don’t remember noticing that hole there before so I wasn’t aware it was an issue. Luckily it wasn’t deeper. Kids play in there all the time. I don’t know how it didn’t happen before. The emergency services were very professional and just got on with it. Thank God the young fella is alright.”
Meanwhile, fire crews made the hole safe by filling it with the contents of several sandbags.
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