Firefighters Rescue Man Stuck In Ventilation Duct

LAUREL, Md. (AP) -- Prince George's County firefighters rescued a man who was stuck for eight hours in the ventilation duct of a restaurant.

Officials say the man tried to break into the carryout restaurant in Laurel early Thursday. They say he entered through a roof hatch and got into the duct work for the cooking ventilation system.

Firefighters say the man got stuck at the bottom of the stove hood with his feet dangling over the stove. An employee reporting for work found him and called police.

Police called firefighters, who slipped an oxygen mask through the duct to help the man breathe. The department's technical rescue service freed the man by cutting away part of the hood. It took 25 firefighters about 40 minutes to free the man, who was escorted to a hospital by police.

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