COLUMBIA — An MU Power Plant worker is recovering after having a medical emergency and becoming trapped on Thursday afternoon.

Battalion Chief Brad Fraizer said firefighters were called after a worker had a medical emergency while performing routine maintenance on a reservoir 20 feet underground. The reservoir was empty, but the worker wasn’t able to get out on his own. Fraizer said the worker was in an area that was only about 4 or 5 feet wide, so firefighters had to slide a cot under the worker and then pull him out using ropes and pulleys.

Fraizer said the department’s technical rescue team had just recently finished a training exercise at the power plant, so they knew the facility well. The worker was taken to University Hospital and is expected to recover.