CORINTH, Vt. — A man who fell 150 feet into an abandoned Vermont copper mine was considerably hypothermic and had some serious injuries when emergency crews rescued him Saturday night, an official said Monday.
Hanover, N.H., Fire Chief Martin McMillan said he does not know why the man was at the Eureka Mine on Pike Hill in Corinth but said it appears to be a popular location with ATV tracks visible.
Rescuers believes the man slipped and slid down the frozen shaft, landing in water. The man had been stuck for about two hours before the people accompanying him found a residence and called 911, McMillan said. Crews from Vermont and New Hampshire were called just before 10 p.m.
Once on the scene, rescuers pulled him out 45 minutes later after lowering two firefighter paramedics into the shaft with ropes, McMillan said. The man was loaded onto a waiting ATV and taken to a ambulance and then flown by helicopter to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon, N.H.
The man, who was said to be about 30 years old, remained hospitalized on Monday, he said.
On Monday a hospital spokeswoman said she could not provide a condition without a name.