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File photo: Old coal development in an abandoned mine Vladimir Mulder via Shutterstock
Lightning Ridge
Woman 'lucky to be alive' after two days stuck in Australian mine shaft
She tripped and fell down the eight-metre (26-foot) deep shaft while out for a walk.
A WOMAN HAS been pulled alive from an abandoned Australian mine shaft where she was trapped in searing heat for two days until a drone found her.
The 26-year-old vanished from her home in Lightning Ridge on Friday after going for a walk, sparking a large-scale search and rescue operation.
She apparently tripped and fell down the eight-metre (26-foot) deep shaft, police said, surviving despite daytime temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius.
“The woman is lucky to be alive after police rescued her from a mine shaft in the state’s north-west,” New South Wales police said.
“She was brought to the surface with the assistance of an officer using a pulley and harness, and provided water.”
The woman, who was found yesterday, was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
Lightning Ridge, some 770 kilometres (477 miles) northwest of Sydney, is a world-renowned black opal mining centre, attracting hundreds of fossickers looking to hit the jackpot.
Small-time miners have dug countless vertical shafts in the area, with some dating back decades.
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