- A man was trapped under a rock fifteen deep in the cliffs of San Diego's Ocean Beach for three days
- The unidentified man was eventually rescued by a special team after almost 24 hours of rescue efforts
- Current weather conditions in Southern California made the operation particularly difficult and the mission had to be suspended overnight
A man was finally rescued after being trapped for three days in a narrow crevice on a cliff in San Diego.
The unidentified middle-aged man became trapped from the waist down in the 12- to 18-inch hole after falling under broken concrete sections on the side of the Ocean Beach cliff.
He had fallen to the bottom of a tunnel in the cliffs – located 10 to 15 feet deep in the hillside – where he became trapped under a rock.
Two teenagers heard a man screaming after walking along the cliff at Orchard Street and Cable Street around 3:40 p.m. Thursday and immediately called 911.
The San Diego Fire Department quickly responded to the call, but searches were halted due to the rising tide. Fox 5 reported.
A man was finally rescued after being trapped for three days in a narrow crevice on a cliff in San Diego
The unidentified middle-aged man became trapped from the waist down in the 12- to 18-inch hole after falling under broken concrete sections on the side of the Ocean Beach cliff.
Two teenagers heard a man screaming after walking along the cliff at Orchard Street and Cable Street around 3:40 p.m. Thursday and immediately called 911
The San Diego Fire Department quickly responded to the call, but searches were halted due to the rising tide
He had fallen to the bottom of a tunnel in the cliffs – which lay 3 to 5 meters deep in the hillside – where he became trapped under a rock.
He was given electrolytes, hot packs and blankets to keep him warm overnight until emergency services could resume their rescue mission.
A team of volunteer cave rescue specialists from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department resumed the mission bright and early the next morning at 4:40 am.
Current weather conditions in Southern California made rescue efforts difficult as intermittent rain and gusty winds, along with persistent bursts of lightning and thunder, caused chaos for crews.
Parts of Southern California were hit by heavy rain and thunderstorms this week as the Golden State experienced its largest rainfall since August, when Tropical Storm Hillary made landfall.
The teams resumed their mission at 9 a.m. and it took two hours to complete Eventually they were able to rescue the man and bring him to safety.
About 150 emergency workers worked from the time of the emergency call on Thursday afternoon until his long-awaited rescue the next day.
To save him, the two smallest first responders, one from San Diego and the other from San Bernardino, were lowered into the hole where they drilled small holes and sent out micro-blasts to remove the surrounding rock.
Current weather conditions in Southern California made rescue efforts difficult as intermittent rain and gusty winds, along with persistent bursts of lightning and thunder, caused chaos for crews.
He was given electrolytes, hot packs and blankets to keep him warm overnight until emergency services could resume their rescue mission
To save him, the two smallest first responders, one from San Diego and the other from San Bernardino, were lowered into the hole where they drilled small holes and set micro-blasts to remove the surrounding rock.
Rescue teams dragged him out on a stretcher and he was taken to hospital to be treated for serious injuries.
The man was able to communicate with first responders and was reportedly in stable condition.
Rescuers did not feed him during the rescue in case he vomited, but instead gave him water and Gatorade.
He suffered injuries to his abdomen and legs and also suffered from severe dehydration.