A man has been rescued after spending more than 24 hours trapped in a mine shaft in an outback town in South Australia.
The 47-year-old man from the Riverland region was reported missing to police by his wife on Friday night.
Police called the experienced local mine rescue team after fears the man had fallen down one of Coober Pedy’s many mine shafts.
The man was found more than 24 hours after he disappeared, desperately calling for help while trapped 25 metres down a shaft at the Nine Mile Opal field.
It took three hours for the 16-strong rescue team to bring the haul the man out of the mine shaft.
Country Fire Service Brigade Captain Matthew Corner said it was the first mine rescue in three years, adding the man had ‘luck on his side’ after surviving the fall.
‘I was quite surprised, considering there was reports it was a 90-foot (27 metres) mine shaft that’s quite a long distance,’ Mr Corner told 9News.
‘Volunteers helped haul up the patient and the amazing mine rescue squad member who went down there to retrieve him. He obviously had some luck on his side.’
State Emergency Service technical rescue coordinator Vincent Scully explained the rescue was ‘very complex’ and involved multiple agencies.
The man suffered multiple broken bones in the accident and was rushed to Coober Pedy hospital before being later flown to Royal Adelaide hospital.
He was treated for a dislocated shoulder, a broken leg, was also severely dehydrated and may have suffered internal injuries.
The man was rushed to Coober Pedy hospital and later flown to Royal Adelaide hospital with a dislocated shoulder and broken leg.
It is still unknown how the man became trapped in the mine.
