London firefighters pull a man out of a hole after he took a nine-metre plunge at a UWO job site yesterday. Thanks to wet, muddy conditions, he escaped with only a broken ankle. (MORRIS LAMONT, The London Free Press)

LONDON -- A construction worker survived a nine-metre plunge into a hole at a University of Western Ontario job site yesterday, escaping with only a broken ankle.

It's believed the wet, muddy conditions at the Western Rd. site of a planned new Richard Ivey business school building saved the man from much more serious injuries, emergency officials say.

"To fall that distance with no other injuries but a broken ankle is quite something," said London fire platoon Chief Paul Carew.

"(He's) very lucky. What contributed to that was the fact the conditions were very muddy and the mud wasn't frozen."

The injured man, believed to be in his early 20s, was taken to hospital for further observation. It was unclear whether he fell straight to the pit's bottom or tumbled down a steep embankment, Carew said.

As remarkable as the man's limited injuries, was the nature of the rescue.

Fire crews, called to the scene near Brescia University College at 2 p.m., were prepared to use a "low-slope" rescue in which the department's technical-rescue team would use ropes to pull the injured man up through the mud, Carew said.

Instead, an on-site construction crane was used. It lowered a chain that was attached to the stretcher and "gently lifted him up and out of the excavation," Carew said.

London builder EllisDon won the contract to build the $100-million Ivey project. The company declined comment on yesterday's incident.

When ground was broken in September, it was announced the new building would be 234,000 square feet -- 50% bigger than the existing school.

Ivey officials said the new school will allow undergraduate enrolment to grow from 500 students to 800 and the MBA program will double to 300 students.

patrick.maloney@sunmedia.ca