Teams rescue 2 men trapped in Arkansas wheat bin for 5 hours

MARKED TREE -- Emergency teams rescued two men trapped inside a Marked Tree wheat bin for more than five hours Tuesday, officials said.

The men, whom police did not name, were pinned beneath 30,000 bushels of wheat inside a bin at the Ritter Grain Services on Adamson Road in the Poinsett County town. The two fell into the bin about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and were removed about 5 p.m., said Marked Tree Police Department dispatcher Robin Cavitt.

Emergency personnel were able to get oxygen lines fed through pipes to the men. Workers also cut the side of the bin and released the wheat to keep the two from suffocating.

Once removed, the two were flown by medical helicopter to a hospital in Jonesboro or Memphis.

Cavitt said she did not know where the two were taken. Susan Christian, vice president of marketing at Ritter Grain Services, would not release the names of men or their conditions.

"One of the rescue workers said being trapped in that bin was like sitting in a tiny metal box with the sun beating down," Cavitt said. "They were lucky to get out."

Temperatures in Marked Tree were in the mid-90s Tuesday afternoon. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory Tuesday for Poinsett County, meaning the heat index was between 105 and 110 degrees. The heat index is a measurement of how air feels on skin when combining the temperature and humidity.

The dispatcher said medical personnel told her that when the two were extricated, one said he was hungry.

Crews from Marked Tree, Lepanto, Tyronza and West Memphis assisted in the rescue, she said.

"We are relieved they are OK," Christian said. "It was an amazing rescue effort."

She said Marked Tree businesses took water and food to workers.

Christian did not say why the two were inside the bin or how they became trapped. She said officials at the grain company will review the accident.

"Right now, we are focused on the two men and their families," she said.

State Desk on 07/27/2016

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