CHATSWORTH, Ga., March 21 (UPI) -- An elderly man was hospitalized after spending more than an hour trapped at the bottom of a deep toilet pit at a Georgia park, officials said.

Lisa Parker, spokeswoman for the district that covers the U.S. Corps of Engineers property at Carters Lake, said toilets at the park open to the hole where the refuse is treated and left to decompose. The man apparently fell in after standing on the toilet instead of sitting, the Dalton (Ga.) Daily Citizen reported Thursday.


"We've had these type of toilet facilities for 10 to 15 years, and he just misused the toilet, unfortunately," Parker said.

Parker said the man was trapped for about 70 minutes, as it took some time for family members to become concerned and park representatives had to be summoned to unlock the door.

The spokeswoman said the man was "covered in mess and scraped up." He was taken to Murray Medical Center in Chatsworth.