CINEMATIC RESCUE OPERATION IN CROATIA: Man hung upside down stuck between rocks for 10 hours, a drone found him!

Members of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) carried out a demanding rescue operation on Monday evening in the canyon of the Čikola River near Drniš, where a man had been stuck between two rocks for almost 10 hours, hanging upside down.

The call about the missing person reached the Šibenik HGSS on July 14 at 18:40 via the 112 Center. There were indications that the man was located below the tower in Drniš, in an inaccessible part of the canyon.

Fifteen HGSS members with two drones were immediately dispatched to the field, and five firefighters from the Volunteer Fire Department of Drniš also participated in the operation, Jutarnji list writes.

Due to the extremely inaccessible terrain, the search was organized from multiple directions. While the drones searched the area from the air, some of the rescuers descended the cliffs using ropes, and another group searched the dry riverbed.

At dusk, the drone operator spotted the man stuck in a steep crevice below the tower. According to Croatian media, he had remained trapped between two rocks and hung upside down for about 10 hours, in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees.

Rescuers descended to the injured man, provided him with first aid, immobilized him, and prepared him for extraction. At the same time, an anchorage and rope system was set up at the top of the canyon, which safely lifted the man and the rescuers to the plateau, after which the injured man was handed over to the emergency medical team.

The operation was completed around 22:30.

The HGSS stated that the drone illuminated the rescue site throughout the entire operation, allowing the teams to work more safely in the dark.

“Operations like this give meaning to every hour of training, every field deployment, and every sacrifice made by rescuers. Yesterday, it all came together at just the right moment. The result is a man who has been given a new lease on life,” the HGSS stated.