A California truck driver is lucky to be alive after jumping down a 100′ mine shaft in Arizona’s Meteor Crater.
The Daily Mail reported that Parminder Singh, 28, willingly jumped down the shaft to “appease the gods.”
UPI reported that an employee saw Singh hiking toward the crater, climbing on objects and moving posts. At 4:00 p.m., the employee called police. The employee then watched Singh through binoculars as he jumped down the shaft.
It took the Coconino County sheriff’s office nearly 8 hours, in freezing conditions, to rescue Singh.
“We would have preferred to do this in the daylight, but we didn’t think he would survive that long. So, once again, our rescuers put themselves in harm’s way to help their fellow man,” sheriff’s office representative Gerry Blair told Arizona Daily Sun. “This rescue took place under the worst conditions.”
The crew had to combat a zero-degree windchill and 70 mph wind gusts.
The mine shaft is located in the floor of the crater. The crater is 4,000 feet wide and approximately 570 feet deep.
“Bringing this individual up out of the crater was nothing short of a feat of strength,” said Flagstaff Fire Department Capt. Jeff Bierer
Once Singh– who is described as weighing more than 200 pounds– was pulled out of the shaft, he had to be carried 600 feet up the crater. of the 600-foot trek up the crater once the
Singh was transported to the hospital where he is being treated for a broken arm and broken leg.
Singh’s truck was found parked nearby.