A terrified walker was seen on tape being rescued by firemen after falling 100 feet down a crumbling cliff.
Saturday morning, an unnamed man jumped off the cliff at Moss Beach in San Mateo, California. He was not seriously injured, but he was unable to return to safety since he was stranded at the edge of the Pacific.
After a female walker heard the victim’s cries for aid, an abseil was used to get him to safety, as seen in a dramatic video provided by Cal Fire.
Using a pulley system with interconnecting ropes, rescue personnel attached themselves to the man and pulled him up the steep cliff with the assistance of a rescuer who was secured behind him.
The man was able to assist himself up the cliff and speak with authorities, despite seeming unstable at the top, despite the uncertainty of his health. Additionally, the man had lost one of his sliders.
CLIFF RESCUE: The cliff crumbled beneath a man who was walking at dawn in Moss Beach. He fell est. 100 feet & yelled for help. At 8:30am a woman nearby heard his calls. Coastside Fire pulled him to safety within 22 minutes of their arrival. Avoid cliff edges as they are unstable. pic.twitter.com/OCz7W84dra
— CAL FIRE CZU (@CALFIRECZU) August 26, 2022
The footage was accompanied by a stern warning from CAL FIRE San Mateo: “avoid cliff edges as they are unstable.”
Many of the stunning waterside cliffs in California are structurally weak and prone to collapse, making cliff falls a typical occurrence.
In May, a 25-year-old man was murdered and three others were wounded after they plunged from a 300-foot cliff on an early morning climb in Southern California.
In the dark, while using the restroom along Paseo Del Mar in Palos Verdes Estates, one of the group members tripped and fell down the cliff.
Jerardo Huitzil, 25, of Los Angeles, was pronounced dead at the scene, and two ladies were taken from the beach to a nearby hospital after frantically searching for the lady who had fallen.
Captain Steve Barber of the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department said that the fourth victim, Vincent Avila, 25, had minor injuries but was able to climb back up from the beach and warn a passing officer around 4:30 a.m.