SYDNEY -- An Australian coal miner trapped three kilometers (two miles) underground by an overturned tractor cut off his own arm with a box-cutting knife rather than await rescue, police said on Sunday.

The 44-year-old man, whom police did not identify, was working late on Saturday when the tractor tipped over, crushing his arm and trapping him in the mine about 150 km (93 miles) north of Sydney, Reuters reported.

A co-worker found him and called for help but the trapped miner severed his arm below the elbow using the plastic-handled knife rather than wait for emergency rescue crews.

The man was airlifted to hospital but doctors were unable to re-attach the arm because it was too badly crushed.

The miner's mishap echoes that of U.S. mountaineer Aron Ralston, who cut off his arm with a pocketknife on May 1 after he was pinned for five days by a 362 kilogram (800 pound) boulder in a remote desert in Utah.