After an arduous 18-hour rescue operation, a yet-to-be-identified man who slipped and fell into a narrow crevice in the Sunset Cliffs area of San Diego County, California, was successfully freed on Friday.
The incident unfolded on Thursday afternoon when the man was discovered beneath fractured concrete sections along the cliffside near the water, as reported by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department on X. The individual found himself trapped from the waist down in a confined space with a mere 18-inch opening.
The rescue mission faced challenges exacerbated by adverse weather conditions and the precarious location of the man. The fire department, commenting on X, noted that the rescue site posed significant hazards for the responding teams.
During the operation, a rescuer managed to tunnel from below, reaching the man’s feet at one point. However, they had to withdraw when the tide began to rise. The fire department ensured the man’s well-being by providing warming blankets and establishing a makeshift shelter overnight until the rescue efforts could resume.
The duration of the man’s entrapment remained uncertain, with the individual expressing to firefighters that he had been shouting for days and was unsure about the exact length of time he had been stuck.
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Despite the challenging circumstances, it was reported that the man suffered only minor injuries, underscoring the success of the intricate rescue operation.