Worker pinned by tree in Dracut

DRACUT, Mass. (WHDH) -- Rescuers rushed to help a man who was pinned between a tree and a building Thursday morning.

Several trees were being chopped down near 28 Hilltop Road in Dracut at the time. The victim was sitting on an exposed seat on a logging truck. The seat was about 10 to 15 feet in the air. He was trying to take a tree down when the tree apparently split and knocked him off the seat and pinned him.

“The tree cutting service was attempting to cut down the tree you can see in the background and there was an operator sitting in the high seat of the cherry picker. It appears they lost control of the tree at some point. The large portion at the top swung down and struck the operator, knocking him off of his seat,” said Officer Wren Maddox of the Dracut Police Department.

The man was knocked unconscious. Sources said the man was taken to a Lowell General Hospital and he suffered non-life threatening injuries.

“I believe the bottom half of the tree fell one way and the top, I thought it was going to hit the house, but then I saw a man hanging upside down and the tree fell and I thought maybe it fell on top of him so I called 911,” said Denise Lheureux, a witness.

The 57-year-old was working for the Rk Tree Service out of Tyngsboro.

Stay with 7NEWS and WHDH.com for updates to this developing story. If you have information related to the story, please e-mail newstips@whdh.com.