Man freed from hole on California cliffs after 'treacherous' rescue

According to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the man was trapped from the waist down and the opening was only 18 inches.

A man who got trapped in a narrow hole after slipping and falling in the Sunset Cliffs area of San Diego County, California was freed Friday after a rescue mission that took over 15 hours. 

The man, who was not identified, was spotted Thursday afternoon, but it is unclear how long he had been trapped. He told officials with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department he had been stranded under broken concrete sections of the side of a cliff near the water for days calling for help. 

The department said he was trapped from the waist down and the opening was only 18 inches. 

At one point during the “very treacherous” mission, rescue teams had to stop because of the tide coming in.