A member of a work crew digging in LaPorte was buried alive Wednesday.

Firefighters had to dig the man out.

LaPorte Fire Chief Andy Snyder said the man was taken to Memorial Hospital in South Bend.

Snyder said the man was conscious and incoherent.

The incident happened when a excavation crew was using a backhoe to dig in front of a house on Park Street.

Snyder said the hole was about 8 feet deep and 4 feet wide when one of the crew members jumped in. The walls of the hole caved in covering the man.

Crew members were able to clear enough dirt from the hole to clear his head. About a half hour later, the man was pulled out from the hole by firefighters using shovels.

They also used medical backboards to keep the walls from collapsing again.

Snyder said he didn’t know why the crew was digging or why the man jumped into the hole.