Roanoke Women Trapped by Boulders
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Woman trapped overnight by boulders
She had crawled into the opening on the Roanoke River’s bank to retrieve her keys and got stuck.
By Hattie Brown 981-3349
The Roanoke Times
A Roanoke woman was trapped between several boulders for at least 12 hours before being rescued Friday morning, Roanoke Fire-EMS Department officials said.
The 44-year-old woman, whose name wasn’t released, suffered a few scratches and bruises, said Roanoke rescue supervisor Scott Alford. She was taken to Carilion
Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Alford said he did not know whether the woman had been released from the hospital as of Friday night.
Rescue workers found the woman a little before 10 a.m. stuck between several boulders on the bank of the Roanoke River near the 1300 block of Riverland Road, Capt. Chris Brown said. She was lying on her back looking up at them when workers arrived, Brown said.
Workers stabilized the rocks above her head and moved a 500- to 600-pound boulder, Brown said. Five people were needed to pull the woman out of the tight space. The rescue took about 15 minutes.
“I don’t even see how she got in there,” Brown said of the space, which he compared to a “small cavern.”
After being freed from the boulders, the woman was oriented and walked up the bank on her own, Alford said. She did not appear to have any problems with exposure or dehydration.
The woman told officials she had been walking along the bank of the river when she dropped her keys in between the boulders, Brown said. She decided to crawl into the opening to retrieve her keys and got stuck. She had just enough room to turn around.
She told rescue workers she wasn’t sure at what time she got stuck but that it was some time Thursday afternoon, Brown said. A man who was walking nearby heard her screaming Friday morning and alerted officials, Alford said.