[imagesource:flickr]

A Pretoria man who went missing two days ago was found alive inside a stormwater drain yesterday by a community member out walking his dog.

Julian Otto, who was last seen on Monday by his family, was found dehydrated and in distress in a drain on the corner of Goshawk and Besembiesie streets in Montana Park on Wednesday afternoon.

Members of the Sinoville Firefighting Association (SBBV) were dispatched to assist and help retrieve the man from the drain.

The community member said he noticed his dog barking crazily near a stormwater drain and went to investigate, finding Otto under the concrete slabs and furiously trying to attract attention. The man immediately called for SBBV.

“When they arrived on the scene, that is when we found him there. We were very curious how he got in because there was no [way] you climb drainage system from there. We suspect that he may have gotten in somewhere else.”

The rescue happened within an hour, SBBV leader Johan Botha telling TimesLIVE the rescue was “extraordinary”.

“We were able to lift the concrete and take him out safely. We calmed him down and got paramedics to give him a drip. He was taken to hospital in a stable condition but he was dehydrated. He will make it.”

“We have never had something like this. What is concerning is that the space he was found in was so small that it was impossible for him to get into that gutter. He must have entered somewhere else and maybe crawled to that space. He was lying there and very weak. This was my first in 14 years in the business.”

Otto’s mother, Estelle, confirmed the poor oke is going to be fine.

“He was full of dust but now he is clean. He is doing fine, they are observing him and making sure he is OK.”

Being stuck in a storm drain must be terrifying, fortunately, it ended well for Otto.

[source:news24&timeslive]