A man is lucky to be alive after being stuck in a manhole in southwest Houston for days, police say.

The man, who police said was homeless, was found just after 3:00am on Monday after he fell 15 feet into the hole at a construction site in South Sam Houston Parkway, reports Click 2 Houston.

Public Works officials said flooding from Hurricane Harvey might have caused the cover to come off the hole and that other manhole covers in the area that were missing.

According to officials, the man, who had been living under a bridge, was walking through the field when he fell into the manhole.

He told rescuers he’s been there ‘for a few days.’

Firefighters used a tripod, ladder and a harness to rescue the man.

‘We did use a ladder to get down there to him, once we got our men down there, we pulled our ladder out of there and pulled him up,’ said a fire department official.

Fire officials said he did not have any food or water while he was trapped.

He suffered a broken foot and was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital. His condition was not immediately known.

Witnesses said the man was not very talkative, but he was alert. They said they gave him water before he was taken to the hospital.

‘He was very fragile his head was slumped down where he was tired, they gave him chips and water,’ said a witness.