Police free worker's hand caught in chopper

Dubai: Quick action by Dubai police saved the arm of a butcher after his hand got stuck in a meat chopper.

The incident happened recently. The Filipino assistant butcher at a supermarket in Bur Dubai was cleaning the chopper when his hand got stuck.

He was rushed to a hospital where attempts to cut open the meat chopper failed.

Experts then decided that the butcher's arm would have to be amputated to save his life.

First Lieutenant Ali Abdullah, duty officer at the difficult mission team of Dubai police, said he had seen a similar incident some time ago and had managed to save the victim's hand.

He told Gulf News: "The hospital was ready to cut off the victim's arm because they had lost hope of removing if from the meat chopper. I spoke to the doctor on duty, we had met during the previous incident."

The doctor said it would be impossible to cut open the machine and retrieve the hand unlike the previous incident, where the machine was much smaller.

"The engineer of the supermarket where the victim worked was there at the hospital, so we asked him some questions such as how we could open the screws of the machine," said First Lieutenant Abdullah.

After consultations, he said, "we unscrewed and took out the engine and fan.

"We opened the meat chopper and slowly pulled out the victim's hand.

"There was an attempt to bring a specialised company to help open the chopper, but that could have taken 4 to 5 hours, during which he might have lost more blood."

First Lieutenant Abdullah said though the hand of the victim was saved, the palm was cut off as it got stuck inside the chopper.

Dr Hussain Naser Al Rahma, Head of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Rashid Hospital, told Gulf News that the victim could have lost his entire arm, but fast action by Dubai police helped save his arm.

"The victim was conscious when he was brought here. His hand was caught in the machine, but after opening it, his condition was normal and the surgeons did some recontructive surgery," said Dr Al Rahma.