UPDATE
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A MAN who fell up to 35 metres down a mine shaft at Chewton on Saturday is now in a serious condition at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The Melbourne resident, aged about 70, had been listed as stable yesterday, but a hospital spokeswoman said his condition had since deteriorated.
The man had been exploring the area with a group when they ventured into the shaft.
Specialist mine rescuer Kylie Davis abseiled into the mine to rescue the man and said the group had been poorly prepared.
“It’s absolutely dangerous,” she said.
“People don’t understand the risk.”
Ms Davis said the man had slipped into the vertical part of the shaft after walking about 50 metres along a horizontal section of the mine.
EARLIER
A MELBOURNE man is recovering in hospital after falling up to 35 metres down a mine shaft at Chewton on Saturday.
The man, aged about 70, had been exploring the disused mine off Golden Point Road with a group of about 10 people.
They had walked 50 metres along the horizontal section of the mine before the man fell down the shaft.
SES Castlemaine unit controller Bob Pratt said rescuers had to be lowered into the shaft to stabilise and retrieve the man.
“He was heavily traumatised,” Mr Pratt said.
“He’d been down there for some time before we could facilitate the rescue.
“Once we’d accessed him and he’d been treated on the scene we still had probably 400 or 500 metres of extremely rough ground to carry him in the stretcher by hand.”
Mr Pratt said the CFA Oscar 1 Mine Rescue Team had carried out most of the rescue and that retrieving people from mines was challenging.
He said up to 50 emergency personnel attended the scene.
“You’ve got to firstly make sure the rescuers are safe and it’s a safe environment that you’re going into,” Mr Pratt said.
“A lot of mine shafts have stale air or no air. It takes a lot of assessment before the rescue because we don’t want to pull two or three people out.”
The incident happened about 5.50pm and arrived at the Royal Melbourne Hospital at 9.50pm after being flown by helicopter.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said the victim had head, face, leg and arm injuries and stayed conscious during the rescue.
A hospital spokeswoman last night said the man was in a stable condition.
Mr Pratt said exploring mine sites could be extremely dangerous.
“There are thousands of them pocketed around this area that people don’t even know are there,” he said.
“Some have grown over the top of sticks and leaves.
“It’s extremely dangerous.
“The best suggestion is never go into an old mine shaft; you don’t know what’s in there.
“If you must do it, never do it alone and make sure you’re equipped with local knowledge.”
Mr Pratt said the ground around mine shafts could be unstable and give way without warning.
“Whilst mines look inviting to explore, it is highly dangerous,” he said.
“The rescuers that are called out also put themselves at risk.”