Louisville leaders reflect on heroic rescue of man trapped [Video]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After eight hours of being trapped, Louisville firefighters pulled a construction worker out of a collapsed demolition site late Thursday night. 

It was the old community corrections building, slated for demolition by Metro Louisville. Officials said the first floor above the basement gave out just before noon, covering the worker in debris. 

Deputy Mayor David James watched the rescue unfold, mostly from a drone operated by emergency responders. 

“What was first seen was nothing,” he said. “You couldn’t even see the helmet.” 

But firefighters could hear the trapped man who was buried alive when they arrived, three minutes after receiving the dispatch. 

Rescuers arrived on scene within minutes. The precarious rescue effort, more than lifting a man out of a hole, kept a landslide at bay with heavy shoring and careful digging. 

“They were scooping …