A man was left trapped inside a portable toilet after it was swept away by a flash flood in Barranquilla, Colombia, earlier this week. Footage shows the plastic lavatory travelling down a waterlogged road as heavy rain continues to fall.
Shouts for help can be heard coming from inside as the toilet turns and tilts precariously before being swept into deeper water. The toilet eventually comes to a stop around a street corner, where a passer-by wades through the murky water up to his knees to grab it and pull it towards the roadside.
Rescue and Aftermath
The door then opens and a man emerges, helping to push the toilet towards the front of a shop where it is finally brought to a standstill. The downpour turned several roads across the city into rivers, with local reports describing how, in other incidents in the same city, cars and motorbikes were washed away by the strong currents of run-off rain water.
Previous Incident
The bizarre incident is not the first time in recent months that a toilet user has become trapped while inside. In July, The Star reported how one man had spent eight hours trapped inside the drainage system of a portable toilet after "climbing in after dropping his drink into the loo."
The unnamed man reportedly gave this excuse to first responders following a rescue operation at a World Cup-linked event in Kansas City, according to ABC News. A spokesperson for the company that manages the portable toilets said that they discovered the man inside one of their units during a routine collection.
Patriot Portable Restrooms (PPR) partner Chip Counterman explained in a social video that they had discovered one cubicle was locked when they came to pick up the units, and told whoever was inside that they had 10 minutes to finish what they were doing. Chip explained that the man said he had gone in to fetch a soft drink, saying: "The Fire Department came and tried to instruct the man to exit."
"They asked him why he went in and he told them he was retrieving a Mountain Sew bottle he had dropped the night before." Thankfully, fire officers were able to free the unnamed man, who was also able to be washed off using their hoses.
