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Thirsty boy stuck in chimney trying to get drink

Aug. 22, 2011 - 11:18 By

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (AP) — An 8-year-old boy desperate for a drink tried to get into a neighbor's home by sliding down the chimney, but got stuck for more than four hours, authorities said.

West Valley City police Sgt. Robert Hamilton said the thirsty boy climbed a tree to get onto the home's roof, then slid down the chimney feet first on Friday. The boy made it 30 feet down the chimney before he became wedged between the basement and main floor.

Hamilton said the boy, who lives several blocks away, recently had been in the house for a play date with a grandchild visiting the family who lives there. The family, who had gone out to dinner, returned home to hear a boy crying in the chimney, Hamilton told the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News.

"I was haunted by the fact we had this child in our chimney," said the homeowner, Richard Draper.

Because of the narrowness of the chimney, as well as its twists and turns, rescuers could not pull out the child with a rope, Hamilton said. They cut an 8-by-5-foot hole in a wall to free the boy, who escaped with little more than scrapes and bruises.

The boy "was surprisingly very calm on scene. His only worry was he was still thirsty when we got there," Hamilton said. The boy was able to move his arms, so rescuers dropped water to him.

A firefighter carried the soot-covered boy to his mother, who reported him missing earlier.

Hamilton said he didn't know who would end pay to repair the hole in the home.

 

<한글 요약>


“목마른 건 못 참아” 이웃집 굴뚝에 들어간 소년
 


8살 남아가 마실 것을 찾기 위해 굴뚝을 통해 이웃집에 들어가려다가 좁은 통로에 4시간째 끼인 것을 구조대가 구출했다.

경찰은 이 아이가 나무를 타고 올라가 지붕에 도달한 후 굴뚝으로 내려갔으며 지하와 1층 사이에 끼이기 전까지 굴뚝 아래로 약 9미터까지 진입했다고 전했다. 

구출대가 도착했을 때 아이는 놀랍도록 침착한 모습을 보였으나 그가 아직도 갈증을 해소하지 못했음을 호소해 물을 건네 주었다고 경찰이 말했다.