BELGRADE, Feb 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Rescuers in Serbia extracted the last worker who had been trapped after soil collapsed on a group of workers while they were digging a sewer pipeline trench, police said late Wednesday.

"Rescued after eight hours. Endless thanks to the firefighter-rescuers," Serbian minister of internal affairs Ivica Dacic wrote on Instagram.

The accident occurred in the village of Petka, near Lazarevac, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) from the capital, Belgrade, when earth buried the workers at a depth of about three meters.

Twenty firefighter-rescuers participated in the operation after they received a call about three workers being buried.

During the rescue operation, there was another soil collapse, which momentarily buried a member of the rescue unit as well.

That rescuer was quickly extracted, along with two of the buried workers, but the search for the last worker lasted eight hours.

"All three workers have been rescued, and they are all well. One of the firefighters, who also experienced a soil collapse, is also well," Dacic said.