Four Saved From Giant Vat of Fish Feces

TURNERS FALLS, Mass. – This nasty rescue is no fish tale. Rescuers cut through a container of dense fish feces to reach four workers who fell into the sludgy dung Friday while cleaning the 30-foot tank at a western Massachusetts farm.

The workers became trapped in the fiberglass tank for 45 minutes after supports collapsed at the Australis Aquaculture fish farm, said Capt. David Dion of the Turners Falls Fire Department. One of the farmhands fell below the sand-and-feces mix that fish farmers use for filtration, while the other three had their heads above the sludge, he said.

Rescuers slashed through the heavy feces mix until they were able to pull out the workers.

“It was very slimy and it was heavy,” Dion said. “Never seen anything like it in my life.”

The worker who became submerged in the feces was airlifted to Bay State Medical Center in Springfield, but was talking with paramedics and did not appear to have life-threatening injuries, Dion said. The other three were taken by ambulance to a local hospital with minor injuries.

Dion said rescue workers cut a hole in the side of the tank at the farm which raises barramundi, according to the Web site for the Australian-based company.

A message left at the farm was not immediately returned.