A construction worker who was pinned underneath a 20,000-pound dump truck has been freed, and suffered only relatively minor injuries, city officials said Tuesday.

According to officials, the 30-year-old Parsippany man was working at the construction site of a new residential complex on Park Avenue in East Orange Tuesday morning when the dump truck he was operating began to tip over. Though the man was able to jump from the cab, the truck toppled over, pinning him to the ground, city officials said in a release.

“The Department of Public Works’ Recycling Division Supervisor Donald Wharton used the bucket of a pay loader truck to help raise the vehicle while firefighters painstakingly executed a little-used air-bag/cribbing extraction technique to carefully stabilize and lift the truck higher,” the city said in a statement.

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Rescue workers responding to the scene. (Courtesy city of East Orange)

Rescue workers responding to the scene. (Courtesy city of East Orange)

“It was the combination of this cooperative effort that helped bring the victim to safety.”

The man, who was pinned under the truck for about an hour until he was freed at about 9 a.m. Tuesday, is in stable condition with a broken leg, officials said.

East Orange fire and police responded to the scene, as well as more than 50 more emergency personnel officers from Elizabeth, Nutley, Morristown, Millburn and Newark. The Metro Urban Search and Rescue Strike Team was also called to the scene.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.


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