A crane operator was impaled on a metal rod about 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon when the machine rolled upside down into an excavated pit.

The unidentified worker was extracted by Victoria firefighters and taken to hospital with the metal rebar still in his

left side.

He is one of a number of volunteers working on a Kingdom Hall construction site at the corner of Shelbourne and Ryan streets in Victoria.

The crane operator was heading down a dirt ramp into the building site when it flopped over onto its side, said Sgt. Peter Lane of Victoria police.

“The operator was in there for a couple of hours while the fire department worked hard to get him out,” Lane said.

The injured driver is certified as a crane operator, said Bill Middleton, chairman of the regional building committee for Jevhovah Witnesses of Vancouver Island.

It’s too early to determine the cause of the accident, he said.

The driver was breathing and conscious when he was loaded into the ambulance, said Middleton.

“He’s been very strong through this whole ordeal,” he said.

“He still has the rebar in his side and at this point we have no idea what damage has happened.”

Victoria police and WorkSafe B.C. are investigating.