Chefs at Melbourne’s Crown Casino got a surprise when they heard a frantic voice coming from a ventilation shaft above the ovens.
A search and rescue team and paramedics, were dispatched to the scene where they eventually found a 25-year-old man stuck in the shaft.
Hot and dehydrated, the man was pulled out of the greasy ventilation shaft after apparently spending the night trapped in oil and fat in the ceiling of the first floor.
He was heard screaming around 10am on Thursday when chefs at the Automatic Cafe turned on the ovens in the morning and the hot air started drifting up toward him.
One Chef said
You could tell he was saying ‘Help!’ and he had enough but when we were asking him ‘Where are you?’ and ‘How did you get in there?’ he couldn’t really give us a direct answer.
Paramedic Ross Parker was harnessed up and grabbed him by the feet. Being covered in grease and oil from head to toe, he was easily extracted from his predicament.
Firefighters inspected the scene and found a fifth floor entry point, meaning he had fallen about 4 floors before becoming wedged. Police believe the man gained access to the ventilation duct from a stairwell around 11pm the night before, then crawled about 30 meters before falling vertically through the vents until he became wedged just above the cafe’s grill.
It’s not known why the man decided to explore the vents, or if he was drunk, but Police are investigating and will interview him at a later date. Hopefully after he has had a shower and freshened up.
