Trapped worker rescued at cement plant

He was carried out on a stretcher about 1 p.m. Friday, after being pinned in a front-loader for about 1 1/2 hours.

Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick says the worker was conscious and talking and had been using a breathing device as rescuers dug away the cement. She says he had been caught under a wall of collapsing cement in a large storage dome.

Dozens of rescuers waded through spilled cement as it turned into mud in the rain. They also used a vacuum truck to remove cement.

The plant is in an industrial area of south Seattle near the Duwamish River.