US man survives 70ft fall into Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

US man survives 70ft fall into Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano

3 May 2019

A US soldier in Hawaii was critically injured after he fell 70ft (21 metres) into one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, parks officials say.

Rangers rescued the 32-year-old man, who they say climbed over a metal guard rail overlooking the Kilauea caldera in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Witnesses say the ground crumbled away beneath the victim's feet, causing him to plunge down the 300ft cliff.

He landed on a ledge, stopping him for falling into the crater.

Witnesses say the man was part of a group who had stopped at the Steaming Bluff overlook around 18:30 local time on Wednesday.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48138640


Rescuers abseiled into the volcano to rescue the man

[Karadeniz]

1. Idiot.

[riversedge]

8. That was my first thought also.

[BeyondGeography]

2. What an ass

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. He came very close to winning a Darwin Award.

Do not climb over guard rails around volcanoes.

[ProudLib72]

22. This man was an American soldier! Have you no shame?

This inspires so much trust in our military you have no idea...

[jpak]

4. Umm.. dumbass is not a man

Sorry

[CurtEastPoint]

5. What?

[Skittles]

16. actually, he is very much a man

[TheBlackAdder]

6. Fuck! It's like in the movies, a ledge saves the man from being fried to a cinder.

[Blue_true]

20. Yea. nt

[struggle4progress]

7. "The law of gravity is for suckers: it doesn't apply to folk like me! Here, hold my beer!"

[Blue_true]

21. Gravity and Father Time have never been defeated.

They are something like 10 billion - 0, with nary a nick on their chins.

[SWBTATTReg]

9. I hope he gets charged w/ something, e.g., endangering others (to rescue him) by his...

idiot actions. I know he's a soldier (and him being a soldier doesn't really play into this story in reality), but still, putting others in harms' way to rescue him isn't a funny matter.

[PJMcK]

10. The soldier exhibited profoundly poor judgment

I disagree with you. His training as a soldier should not have emboldened him to do foolish things. It should have taught him to think about his actions.

Nonetheless, he's an idiot. In all likelihood, this incident will be included in his personnel file.

[Kaleva]

11. USA!! USA!! USA!!

[keithbvadu2]

12. lava eats car

lava eats car

[yortsed snacilbuper]

13. When I was in the C.G. I was on an ice breaker and we were in Thule Greenland,

one of the deck apes climbed the mountain in the harbor, they had to send a helicopter to rescue him!

[Blue_true]

23. For those of you who don't know the term "Deck Ape" refers to a Marine.

It is the term sailors use to describe Marines (but not to their faces ).

[miyazaki]

14. Was his name Joe?

Would be epic.

[greytdemocrat]

15. Man

Not the sharpest knife in the drawer!!!

[albacore]

17. The volcano god spit him back out. He wasn't a virgin. nt

[Hekate]

18. The Hawai'an word for moron is: Lolo

People who climb over guardrails at one of the most active volcanoes on Earth and put other people's lives at risk to rescue them should be presented with a large bill.

[Blue_true]

19. Sometime Darwin losses.

I hope that he has not nor will ever breed (wish him a return to good health though).

Somethings are obvious to most people, I don't understand why some people don't understand that. If there are signs all over the place saying "Watch your ass, don't do xyz", only an extreme thrill-seeker or a total idiot will do xyz.