The site where a worker was rescued after being trapped inside a tunnel for two days is seen in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, on the morning of Dec. 18, 2021. (Mainichi/Tadashi Kako)

       OSAKA -- A worker who had been trapped inside an underground tunnel at a water purification plant in Osaka Prefecture was rescued on the morning of Dec. 18, two days after earth and sand cut off his escape route.

       The worker, who is in his 20s, was in a weakened state when he was transported to the hospital, but is reportedly fully conscious and able to walk on his own.

       According to plant operator Osaka Water Supply Authority and other sources, the accident occurred at the Oba water treatment plant in the prefectural city of Moriguchi at around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 16, when workers were boring a tunnel at a depth of 24 meters underground to install an industrial water service pipe connecting to another water purification plant.

       One of the three workers at the site was trapped after groundwater and soil flowed into the tunnel. Rescuers dispatched from a local fire department and others continued to drain water and remove soil, and managed to rescue the man from inside the tunnel at around 8:20 a.m. on Dec. 18.

       (Japanese original by Hiroshi Muramatsu, Osaka City News Department)

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