Rescuers call off attempts to save man who fell 190ft into abandoned mine shaft

Daily Mail--UK via Drudge ^ | 05 mar 2011 | Wil Longbottom

[rellimpank]

Rescuers have called off attempts to save a man who fell into an abandoned mine shaft, despite video footage showing he was still breathing. The 28-year-old man fell 190ft into part of Murphy's Mine Complex in Jersey Valley, Nevada, on Wednesday. But the shaft was so unstable that parts of the walls were crumbling and rocks were hitting rescuers on the head, forcing teams to postpone the operation.

[Joe Boucher]

More important things to take up the space,
lady ga ga or charlie sheen. Far outweigh this kind of crap.

[ladyvet]

Heres a bit more detail from our local paper on it. http://elkodaily.com/news/local/article_a5fd26d2-46f9-11e0-8719-001cc4c03286.html

[glyptol]

If it were your husband trapped down in a mine I think you would not want people to stand around and say the risk is to great to try.

[ladyvet]

You have no idea what your talking about.

[rellimpank]

--"It's a steep decline, not a vertical shaft, and that was part of the problem," Coyner said. "It's very sad. The most expert people were there." He said three people were hiking in the mine complex Wednesday "and the ground gave way next to the stope." Two escaped but the victim fell into the narrow opening where miners more than 100 years ago went after copper veins.

--thanks --that explains it very well for those of us familiar with the underground--

[Psalm 144]

“The footage showed he had suffered serious head injuries.”

So did Gabrielle Gifford. What makes one life more “savable” than another?

***********************************

The risk to others. I take your point, but it would be a job for volunteers.

Gifford could simply be lifted onto a stretcher. This guy’s recovery puts more at risk, if the tunnel is unstable.

[DNME]

The statement from the family suggests there were extensive efforts made to rescue him, but it didn’t work. Sad but sometimes inevitable.

Nobody gets off this planet alive. Sorry. Not even you.

[Richard Kimball]

I've done cave rescue, but haven't spent near the amount of time underground as your husband. An earth cave is a whole different animal from a rock cave. They're saying the shaft is 18" wide in some areas, and parts are caving in when they try to pass.

The most narrow passage I've ever tried to pass a packaged person through is about 24", and it was extremely difficult. It was also a rock passage, where abrasion would not cause a collapse.

Nobody knows what it's like in one of those shafts unless they've been there.

[jesseam]

I remember hearing my grandmother talking about a guy stuck in a cave either in Kentucky or Tennessee and could not be rescued. They were able to get food and water to him but he died anyway. That was in the 30’s and I believe his name was Floyd ???

[rellimpank]

—Floyd Collins—

[Gene Eric]

Seems like a good job for robotics.

[jesseam]

Thanks, I knew someone would come to my rescue.

[jesseam]

Thanks, I knew someone would come to my rescue.

[mad_as_he$$]

Glyptol, kind of a flip statement on your part. When I was in the Southeast Asia war games I saw five Army Green Berets die trying to recover the body of a fallen comrade. Thankfully a Colonel showed up and stopped the madness. After the area was properly cleared he personally went in and recovered the body of the fallen man. We in Nevada have thousands of abandoned mines and people are told constantly to stay out of them. Risking another persons life, while noble, does have reasonably and expected boundaries.

It is difficult to understand but abandoned mines hold many dangers, not just cave ins, there is poisonous gas, explosive gas, and poisonous animal infestations. Going into an abandoned mine is akin to playing in traffic at night.

[deport]

I haven't heard a peep about this in the American press outlets.

---

Click for a few articles on the event from the past couple of days

[Ptarmigan]

Floyd Collins was a celebrated cave explorer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Collins

[Ptarmigan]

Floyd Collins was a celebrated cave explorer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Collins

[rabidralph]

As Mountain Lion said, it’s Death Panels expanding its territory.

[newzjunkey]

That's because you only read Free Republic which has posts for everything on Drudge. The question is why does Drudge link to the Daily Mail for US News.

The question is why didn't YOU post the article on FR if you knew the story was at CNN, NBC or elsewhere?

[Psalm 144]

With Anglian’s post at #31:

“The fact he put his hands up when the camera came down there, you wonder how much hope that gave him,” Schnurr said. “You have to believe he was expecting to be rescued, and it didn’t happen.”

- I am inclined to agree with you.