WINNIPEG (CBC) - A Winnipeg man spent about five hours trapped in a sewer line on Sunday after falling in through a raised manhole at a Manitoba Hydro substation on McPhillips Street.

A spokesman for the Winnipeg Fire Department said the man, who is in his 40s, fell in sometime before 9 a.m. CT. A passerby heard his cries for help and called 911 at about 11 a.m.

It took nearly two hours for emergency crews to pull him out, the spokesman said.

The entry to the sewer is built into a structure that's raised about a metre off the ground, and the man must have climbed on top and fallen in, the spokesman said.

The unidentified man was taken to hospital, but his injuries were not life-threatening.