Union City Man Jumps Into 100-Foot Mineshaft to 'Appease the Gods'

A Union City man was rescued Friday after jumping into a 100-foot mineshaft in Arizona, according to media reports.

After the eight-hour rescue mission at Arizona’s Meteor Crater, 28-year-old Parminder Singh told rescuers that he had jumped in feet first in order to “appease the gods,” according to SFGate.com.

SFGate reports that Singh, a long-haul trucker, parked at the Meteor Crater visitor center on Thursday and hiked down into the 600 feet deep crater, which is not open to the public.

A park employee alerted deputies at about 4 p.m. after seeing Singh scale a seven-foot fence with barbed wire that surrounds the mineshaft and jump in.

Rescuers — including 30 personnel from four agencies — had to hike down into the crater and cut through the fence before reaching the mineshaft entrance at 8:22 p.m. They then lowered food, water, clothing, a flashlight and a radio down to Singh.

A Flagstaff Fire Department rescue team member was later lowered into the mineshaft to treat Singh, who suffered a broken arm and leg and experience severe hypothermia, according to SFGate.

Singh was eventually lifted to safety and taken to a nearby hospital. He was in stable condition Friday, SFGate reports.

“[Singh] said that he was trying to appease the gods,” a Coconino County sheriff’s spokesman told reporters. “It seems like we may be dealing with a mental condition as well … all we know is what he told us.”

Singh may face criminal trespass charges but no decision was made Friday, according to SFGate.

Read the full story on SFGate here.

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