Vienna, Oct 19, (dpa/GNA) – A 13-year-old girl in Austria was removed from inside a tumble dryer, during a complex rescue operation after she forced herself into the confined space of its drum.
The child climbed into the appliance but was unable to get out again on her own, the fire brigade in the Vienna suburb of Mödling said on Saturday.
The emergency services were called out on Friday evening and initially attempted to free the girl without using technical equipment. When this proved unsuccessful, the dryer was dismantled and the drum exposed.
The girl’s condition deteriorated during the work. She complained of pain and her eyes kept closing, a firefighter told dpa.
This prompted rescuers to use hydraulic shears to remove the last pieces of panelling and rescue the child, he said.
She was taken to hospital with pains in her arm, shoulder and stomach. Why she climbed into the dryer and how long she had been there before the fire brigade arrived was not immediately clear.
GNA