Mass. Worker Recovering After Fall In Big Dig Tunnel

A 51-year-old state transportation worker is recovering at home after being trapped in a small room inside the Ted Williams Tunnel early Friday.

State transportation officials say the worker fell about 20 feet while doing a routine inspection of a pump room in the tunnel at about 1 a.m. Friday. They say he slipped off a ladder and fell into a foot-deep pool of sludge.

It took about two hours to pull him out. He had to be decontaminated before being taken to the hospital with leg and face injuries. His name was not immediately made public. The tunnel opened for the commute.

It's the second difficult rescue for Boston firefighters in just over a week. Late last month firefighters rescued a transit agency electrician who had fallen down a 30-foot shaft.

"They were similar in what had to happen," said Fire Department spokesman Steve McDonald. "They came so close together, and they both presented some special challenges."

With reporting from the WBUR Newsroom and The Associated Press.

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