- Firefighters rescue kitten Leo from a hidden shaft
Long Shift at the Shaft: Firefighters rescued a small kitten from a hidden house shaft in Grevenbroich after a more than seven-hour operation. They even ended up dismantling a wall in the owners' living room to reach the four-month-old cat, Leo. The search for the animal had previously resembled a scavenger hunt.
The rescue operation began on Monday evening, as reported by the fire department. The owners of the cat suddenly heard loud meowing and started searching for their Leo. They suspected that Leo was stuck in an inaccessible attic of an outbuilding. They then alerted the fire department.
Hot Lead from Old Building Plans
The problem: Leo's meowing was still audible, but the cat was nowhere to be found. The emergency services used an endoscope camera, removed parts of the roof, searched for openings - but to no avail. It was only "based on old building plans" that they finally discovered a "building angle that had apparently been walled up during the construction of the houses," the fire department said. A hot lead. After further drilling, a wall leading to the shaft was broken open, and Leo was finally freed from his trap at 5:30 AM on Tuesday morning.
The fire department could not provide information on the costs for the necessary repairs to the house after their operation. These will be borne by the owner.
The owners' sense of relief was palpable once they heard that Leo was safe, as the situation had become an emergency. The emergency services had to work tirelessly through the night to free the cat from the hidden shaft.
