A teenager survived a 400ft fall off of a canyon in Washington state with “only minimal injuries” according to police.
A two-hour rescue operation to save the 19-year-old, involving the Mason county sheriff’s office and fire department, took place on Saturday below High Steel Bridge – one of the US’s tallest railroad bridges – located on the Olympic national forest nearly 100 miles outside Seattle.
The boy, who has not been publicly identified, fell after embarking on a path marked unsafe for exploring. Due to the steep and slippery conditions of the areas surrounding the bridge, he plummeted below.
Rescuers said they had to use binoculars to locate the boy. A firefighter was hooked up to a harness, scaled the bridge and descended beneath the bridge to bring the teen back up, who only sustained minor scrapes to his arms.
He was later taken to a nearby hospital.
Matthew Welander, the West Mason fire chief, told local news station KING5 his team had practice saving the boy by “hauling dead bodies out” from the same place in the past.
Welander called the teen “crazy lucky” and urged extreme caution when around the bridge. He blamed the need for rescues on the lack of respect for nature.
Rescuers said about five to seven people fall off the bridge every year, and there are 20 dead bodies recovered for every person found alive at the bottom.
On Facebook, West Mason fire said: “Luckily the 19-year-old made it out alive. A lot of our rescues aren’t so lucky. Remember, do NOT hike down next to the bridge.”