Indian-American Parminder Singh jumps into 100-ft mine shaft to 'appease gods'
A 28-year-old Indian-American jumped into a 100-foot mine shaft at a meteor impact site in Arizona to "appease the gods" and was pulled out following a massive eight-hour rescue operation.
Parminder Singh of the Union City in California, who travelled to Arizona, voluntarily jumped feet-first into the vertical mine shaft on January 11, according to witnesses.
Singh, who fell a vertical distance of more than 100 feet, was rescued from the floor of the mine shaft at the bottom of Meteor Crater, a meteor impact site and tourist attraction in Northern Arizona, in a massive effort involving more than 30 rescuers from three different agencies, police said yesterday.
The rescue lasted more than eight hours in temperatures of 20 degrees and below, with a wind chill factor of below zero.
Singh later told police that he intentionally jumped into the shaft in an attempt to "appease the gods".
He was transported to the Flagstaff Medical Center where he is listed in stable condition, the Sheriff Office said.
Singh's jump inside the crater was first noticed by a Meteor Crater park employee at 4 pm local time following which local officials immediately started the work to rescue him.
Access to the mine shaft was difficult, requiring a one
mile hike with a 600-foot drop in elevation to reach the
bottom of the crater.
A Guardian Medical Transport Helicopter responded and conducted multiple flights as the crew inserted rescue personnel, the Coconino County Sheriff Office said in a statement.
"As rescuers reached the opening of the shaft, they found it to be
