Pennsylvania Man Survives 500-Foot Fall Into Abandoned Mine
COALDALE, Pa. (AP) - Police say a Pennsylvania man has survived a 500-foot fall into an abandoned strip mine.
Coaldale Police Chief Timothy Delaney says 23-year-old Nathan Bowman of Tamaqua was trespassing on coal-company property when he slipped and fell into the cavernous Springdale Pit early Friday.
He says Bowman survived a sheer drop onto a rock ledge hundreds of feet down.
Delaney says rescuers used a basket to lift Bowman out. Bowman is in serious condition at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem.
Delaney says Bowman is obviously extremely lucky to be alive.
Coaldale is 70 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
“…Bowman is obviously extremely lucky to be alive.”
Well fuck me! You really think so??
April 25th, 2008 at 3:43 pmso the guy fell 500 feet and hit the bottom? like the same as a 50 story building. this sounds odd to me but also amazing
April 25th, 2008 at 3:48 pmAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH breath AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 500 feet is a long way to Scream! I agree with Kurt.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:51 pmIt’s a good thing the ground broke his fall.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:23 pmThat’s a one-in-a-million luck fall. Somebody was looking out for him…And it wasn’t Allah.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:47 pmI believe he fell (tumbled down a slope) 50 feet. Strip mines are never 500 feet deep. The “strip” is the removal of top burden, (dirt, rocks,etc.) from the coal which is then removed. A 500 foot excavation for coal would be a shaft to a deep mine.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:04 pmZeke +1…”strip mining” is a surface operation. You might fall 500 ft. into a strip mine, but it won’t be through a shaft, it’ll be off of a cliff.
April 25th, 2008 at 7:02 pm