Fire department rescued boy

Nine-year-old trapped in forked branch on tree

The nine-year-old (left on the arm of a firefighter) survived the incident with minor abrasions(Bild: FF Axberg)

A nine-year-old was trapped three meters up in a tree. He was stuck in a forked branch and was unable to free himself under his own power. His friends organized help. When the emergency services arrived at the schoolboy's home, he was already in tears. 

On Tuesday afternoon, four fire departments - including two height rescue bases - had to respond to a strange rescue operation in the municipality of Pasching. At around 3.15 p.m., a nine-year-old was playing with friends when he climbed an old willow tree.

When the boy was three meters up, he suddenly slipped down the trunk so badly that his left leg became trapped in a branch fork. The schoolboy was unable to free himself and complained of pain.

Several fire departments were deployed(Bild: FF Axberg)

Child was "pretty desperate"
The friends then rushed to a nearby house, whose owner immediately set the rescue chain in motion. "When we arrived, the boy was already pretty desperate. But by using ladders and muscle power, we were able to bend a branch enough for the boy to pull his knee out again," says Dominik Wögerbauer, head of operations at the Pasching fire department.

The nine-year-old was first treated by the Red Cross, but did not have to be taken to hospital - fortunately he had only suffered minor abrasions.