New Jersey man rescued from under collapsing asphalt in Egg Harbor Township

A 26-year-old New Jersey man was rescued from inside an industrial hopper Tuesday morning, Egg Harbor Township police said.

A 911 call came in just after 6 a.m. from coworkers who had tried to free Cameron Briggs from a recycled asphalt bin at A E Stone off Doughty Road, according to Egg Harbor Township police.

Briggs was working inside the bin when he fell backwards, landing in a seated position with his legs straight out and asphalt covering his waist, police said. Coworkers worked to get him free, but after 20 minutes and the risk of collapse from several tons of remaining asphalt, they contacted emergency services.

After two and a half hours, Briggs was brought out of the bin and transported to an area hospital for minor injuries, police said.  

Several responding agencies helped in the technical rescue, including the Egg Harbor Township Police, Farmington Volunteer Fire Department, Bargaintown Volunteer Fire Department, Cardiff Volunteer Fire Department, Atlantic City Fire Department, including their Technical Rescue Team (TRT), Egg Harbor Township EMS, AtlantiCare Paramedics, Egg Harbor Township Public Works and the Atlantic County Office of Emergency Management.