California Darwin Democrat who fell into narrow 18-inch hole freed after 18-hour rescue mission

A man who slipped and fell into a narrow hole in the Sunset 
Cliffs area of San Diego County, California, was freed Friday 
following an 18-hour rescue mission.

The man, who has not been identified, was spotted Thursday 
afternoon. He had fallen under broken concrete sections of the 
side of a cliff near the water, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department 
said in a post on X, and was pinned from the waist down.

The opening was only 18 inches and the space below was small, 
the department said.

The rescue operation had been hampered by bad weather and the 
location of where the man was trapped. The fire department said 
on X that the location was " very treacherous for rescuers."

At one point, a rescuer was able to tunnel from below and reach 
the man's feet but had to exit because a tide started coming in, 
NBC San Diego reported. The fire department said it had provided 
the man with warming blankets and "created a shelter" for him 
overnight until the rescue could resume.

It's not clear how long the man had been stuck in the rocks. He 
told firefighters that he had been screaming for days and wasn't 
sure how long he had been trapped, according to NBC San Diego.

It's believed the man only suffered minor injuries, the news 
station reported.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-man-fell-narrow-
18-inch-hole-freed-18-hour-rescue-mission-rcna130970