Abu Dhabi: I prayed to God ... I prayed hard to make me faint ... that seemed to be the only option to free me from the pain," said Rajesh P.P., a 34-year-old Indian who nearly had his left hand crushed in a freak accident in the kitchen of the pizzeria he works for.

The accident happened yesterday morning at the newly-opened branch of a pizzeria in the Al Mariah Cinema building on Hamdan Street.

Speaking to Gulf News from his hospital bed, Rajesh narrated the excruciating pain and two-hour long ordeal he went through.

"Thursday morning started off like usual with routine jobs. By around ten o'clock I was working with a machine that cuts dough for the pizzas. When I finished, I turned off the machine. I noticed that there was some dough left in the machine."

Rajesh put his hand into the machine to scrape out the last bit of dough. "When I put my hand inside, the apron I was wearing caught the power switch, turning it on.

"I was in such a state of shock and pain that I couldn't even use my free hand to switch it off. All I did was cry out in pain." There were two others in the kitchen with him at the time. "But they, too, panicked and kept running to and fro, unable to figure out what to do."

After a few seconds, Rajesh turned off the machine. His hand and wrist were jammed between the blades. Paramedics freed him and rushed him to the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City.