Woman Rescued After Spending Night Trapped in Manhole

A California woman spent an entire night trapped inside a manhole after she fell between 15–20 feet into the opening on Wednesday.

On Nov. 20, the San Bernardino County Fire Department received a call at around 11 a.m. local time concerning a woman stuck inside a manhole. The first crew which arrived at the scene confirmed that a woman was indeed trapped underground. They began planning a rescue operation to extract her, preparing a 100-foot aerial ladder which they planned to lower into the opening.

“The Urban Search and Rescue team arrived and assisted in completing set up of a high-point rope rescue system,” the fire department explained in a statement. “A rescuer was lowered down to the patient to assess for injuries and begin treatment. The patient was then placed into a rescue harness and raised to safety.”

Unfortunately, “the patient was suffering from multiple musculoskeletal injuries” when she was recovered. She was “transported to a local trauma center [in] moderate condition,” but was aware enough to provide investigators with a statement. According to the victim, she had accidentally fallen into the manhole the night before as she couldn't see it in the dark. She spent the night trapped, screaming desperately for help. It was late the next morning when a passerby finally heard her pleas and summoned authorities.

After rescuing the victim and transferring her to a local hospital, authorities filled in and secured the manhole so that no one else would become inadvertently trapped. “Crews from the San Bernardino Municipal Water Department remained on-scene until the man-hole was secured,” the department said.

The manhole is located at the site of a former shopping mall which closed in 2017 and was demolished last year. Contractors plan to redevelop the land and build commercial-use and office buildings in addition to some affordable housing. However, construction on those projects has not yet begun.