7,000-pound forklift traps Normal worker

NORMAL -- Officials in central Illinois say firefighters were forced to inflate air bags to raise a 7,000-pound forklift that trapped a factory worker.

Officials aren't releasing the name of the employee, who works at the Midwest Fiber Inc. recycling plant in Normal. Fire Capt. Ed Collins says the man was using the forklift Friday to move a load of cardboard onto a conveyer belt that's about a foot below the level of the plant floor.

One of the forklift's wheels dropped onto the belt. The forklift tipped over, wedging the worker between the machine's cab and the belt.

Collins says it took firefighters an hour to release the man. He was taken to a Bloomington hospital, but Collins says the employee had no serious injuries.