Russian gets stuck in rubbish chute to escape girlfriend

RUSSIA: A Russian man had to be rescued by emergency workers from a rubbish chute where he had jumped to escape his girlfriend but ended up getting stuck after sliding three floors down, officials said Thursday.

"According to the 31-year-old victim, he jumped into the metal chute on the 8th floor to escape his girlfriend," the emergency ministry branch in the oil-rich Tyumen region said on its website.

Soviet era buildings in Russia frequently have a metal rubbish chute in the stairwell with a latch opening on each floor that is slightly bigger than a grocery bag.

The unidentified man apparently travelled three floors down the chute in the apartment building in Tyumen before getting jammed at the fifth floor level, when he started calling for help.

Rescue workers had to use an "electric instrument" to cut the metal and extricate the victim and passed him to a waiting ambulance team, the ministry said. AFP