Woman rescued after being stuck for two days in Australia mine shaft

This handout picture released by the New South Wales Police via its Facebook page on December 18, 2017 shows rescue operations underway for a trapped woman in an abandoned Australian mine shaft in Lightning Ridge, some 770 kilometers northwest of Sydney./ AFP / New South Wales Police/

SYDNEYAustralia (AFP) — A woman has been pulled alive from an abandoned Australian mine shaft where she was trapped in searing heat for two days until a drone found her, police said Monday.

The 26-year-old vanished from her home in Lightning Ridge on Friday after going for a walk, sparking a large-scale search and rescue operation.

She apparently tripped and fell down the eight-meter (26-foot) deep shaft, police said, surviving despite daytime temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

“The woman is lucky to be alive after police rescued her from a mine shaft in the state’s north-west,” New South Wales police said.

“She was brought to the surface with the assistance of an officer using a pulley and harness, and provided water.”

The woman, who was found on Sunday, was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Lightning Ridge, some 770 kilometers (477 miles) northwest of Sydney, is a world-renowned black opal mining center, attracting hundreds of fossickers looking to hit the jackpot.

Small-time miners have dug countless vertical shafts in the area, with some dating back decades.

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