A 5-YEAR-OLD boy is recovering in hospital after he was trapped in a hole and had to be dug out by fire crews.

The alarm was raised at around 5.30pm yesterday when emergency services were alerted to the incident at Brookfields in Shannon, Co Clare.

Paramedics and gardaí responded to the incident initially however, despite the best efforts of ambulance service personnel, they were unable to free the young boy from the pipe and requested assistance from the fire service.

It’s understood that one of the child’s legs bent backwards after he accidentally stepped into the hole and this left him wedged inside the pipe and unable to move. It’s believed he was trapped in the hole for about 30 minutes and only his head was visible above the ground.

Three units of the fire brigade from Shannon town attended the scene. Fire crews erected a protective screen around the scene as they put a plan in place to release the boy.

Fire service personnel used shovels to dig around the pipe which they were then able to remove in sections. Once free, the young boy was handed into the care of National Ambulance Service paramedics to be assessed and treated.

As a precaution, the child was transported to University Hospital Limerick for treatment for what are believed to be minor injuries.

Fire crews made the hole safe by filling it with the contents of several sandbags.