Cape Town - A fisherman was buried alive in a vat of fish aboard a fishing trawler on Tuesday, left with only his foot sticking out of the day’s catch.
The NSRI in Simons Town were called on to rescue the 39-year-old man off the vessel Lincoln. He was lucky to only suffer chest injuries from his fishy dive.
Station commander Darren Zimmerman said he received the call for medical assistance from the 42ft Cape Town trawler just after 8pm.
“A crewman onboard suffered chest injuries after he reportedly fell into a fish bin while their catch was being poured into the bin, causing him to subsequently get buried under the fish,” Zimmerman said.
“Only his foot still protruded from the bin, with the rest of his body buried under fish, and fellow crew grabbed his foot and managed to pull him out of the bin from under the fish.”
Lincoln immediately headed for shore, while the NSRI and an EMS team launched rescue craft to meet up with the trawler.
The injured man, from Van Wyksvlei in the Northern Cape, was treated for suspected fractured ribs and then taken to Christian Barnard Memorial Hospital in a stable condition for further treatment.
Cape Argus