A man spent several days trapped inside a crevice in a San Diego cliff after his plan to build a tunnel shelter failed, authorities say.
The unidentified man was rescued Friday morning after a rescue that lasted hours, the San Diego Fire Department said.
First responders rushed to the Sunset Cliffs area around 3:40 p.m. Thursday after receiving a report of a person trapped in a hole along the cliff.
Two passersby, who called 911 after hearing screams for help, found the man trapped pinned from the waist down inside a crack that was at most 18 inches in diameter.
“SDFD crews do not know how long the man was in the hole, but he told our crews he was there for a couple of days,” the department said in an alert.
“The location of this rescue is very dangerous for both the rescuers and the patient.”
The man was found beneath a riprap tunnel where he had attempted to create a shelter, SDFD Battalion Chief Craig Newell said at a news conference.
While digging the tunnel, the man slipped and became trapped under rock at the bottom of the tunnel, about 12-15 feet down the hillside, according to Newell.
The man told rescuers he had been trapped in the hole for days. KGTV
Rescuers attempted to pull the man out, but the tide began to slowly rise, forcing them to call off the mission overnight.
The team took turns monitoring the hiker, who was covered with blankets, placed on an IV bag, and given Gatorade and hot packs.
The man was knocked unconscious several times during the night, SDFD said.
The man had been tunneling in a shelter when he slipped and became trapped under rock about 12 to 15 feet down the hillside. SDFD/X
The rescue mission resumed around 9 a.m. Friday, when a team of volunteer cave rescue specialists from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department arrived to break up the concrete.
Two of the smaller rescuers, one from San Diego and one from San Bernardino, were able to descend into the hole to drill small holes and perform microexplosions to remove the rock around it, Fox 5 reported.
“[The man] “He expressed that he felt relief as rescuers worked to remove the stones from his legs,” the SDFD said.
The man lost consciousness several times during the night while being watched by rescuers. KGTV
He was finally freed at 11am and flown via a feeding basket to the road, where he was transferred to a stretcher and rushed to hospital.
Fortunately, the man is stable. He is believed to have injuries to his abdomen and legs and that he was dehydrated from being trapped for nearly 20 hours, authorities said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn