PA ImagesA 10-hour long rescue mission took place in Cambodia after a man fell into a tiny crevice in a mountain and remained wedged there for four days.
28-year-old Sum Bora had reportedly been collecting bat droppings in the Chakry mountain jungle in the northwestern province of Battambang, Cambodia, on Sunday (August 4) when he dropped his torch into the narrow gap.
He attempted to retrieve the flashlight and in doing so slipped into the crevice, where he got stuck.
A Cambodian man who became wedged between rocks while collecting bat droppings for sale has been rescued after being trapped for almost four days. Sum Bora slipped Sunday while trying to retrieve his flashlight, which he had accidentally dropped in the small rocky hollow. pic.twitter.com/7frKoFsiLl
— Sopheng Cheang (@SophengCheang) August 8, 2019
According to VOA Cambodia, bat droppings can be used as a fertiliser and sold for supplementary income by farmers, who sometimes try to attract bats to their property.
Cambodia’s Fresh News, as per VOA, report the 28-year-old’s family became concerned and began searching for Bora when he didn’t return home after three days.
Bora’s brother eventually found him and alerted authorities to the trapped man’s location in the mountains. Police spokesman Sareth Visen explained how around 200 rescue workers, spearheaded by specialists from Rapid Rescue Company 711, worked to free the trapped man by carefully destroying surrounding bits of rock which were pinning him in place.
PA ImagesThe Cambodian man was finally freed at around 6pm on Wednesday (August 7) and he emerged from the gap looking extremely weak.
He was taken to a provincial hospital following the terrifying ordeal.
Bora’s situation is reminiscent of the film 127 Hours starring James Franco, which is based on the true story of climber Aron Ralston.
PathéRalston went hiking alone in Utah in 2003 and had been climbing the narrow Bluejohn Canyon when a dislodged boulder fell and crushed his right arm, trapping him against the wall.
The climber spent five and a half days struggling to get free before eventually using a blunt knife from his multi-tool to amputate his own arm.
PathéRalson recalled the horrific experience, saying, as per The Telegraph:
I realised early on that I was going to have to cut my arm off to get free but there was also resistance: I didn’t want to do it.
But by the second day I was already figuring out how I could do it, so in the film you see that progression: trying to cut into the arm like a saw… then the realisation that the knife was too dull to get through the bone.
The climber ended up breaking his bone to get free before creating a makeshift sling and rappelling down a 60ft cliff face to the floor of the canyon. A family who were out hiking found him and called the emergency services.
It’s incredible both men survived their ordeals.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.