A man was flown to Wellington Hospital yesterday after being cut free from the collapsed house he was trapped under.
Emergency services including police, ambulance, and Fire and Emergency [Fenz] descended on the Chester Rd property in West Taratahi at 9.40am yesterday.
Fenz crew worked to stabilise the house before cutting through the floorboards to rescue the man, who was reportedly not pinned but still unable to free himself.
He had been working to lower the house when its left side collapsed, dropping about half a metre.
Shortly before 11am he was stretchered to a rescue helicopter after being assessed by ambulance crew. He was reported to be conscious and stable.
Wellington Free Ambulance confirmed one patient was flown by Life Flight to Wellington Hospital in a serious condition.
Police described the accident as a workplace incident and said WorkSafe would be notified.
Nearby residents said the house had been on the site on metre-high stilts for several months after being moved from a section in Masterton, and noted it had withstood multiple cyclones ripping through the exposed section.
“We’ve been watching it for the past year, expecting each cyclone to bring it down. It’s been pretty rough.”
Contractors had been seen on site lowering the house onto piles yesterday when the accident happened.
Wellington Hospital said the man was in a stable condition in the emergency department, yesterday afternoon.
what company was the house removers….when a man goes to work he should go home not to hospital.accidents do happen but some are through neglagence and inexperience.There outta be a lew