A 15-year-old boy was rescued on Monday morning from the counterweight of a crane 36 stories high in Jerusalem after being trapped there since midnight.

The boy climbed onto a crane located on the roof of a 44-story building. At one point, when he was about 100 meters high, he slipped. He grabbed onto a cable, and his fall and certain death were miraculously prevented by the counterweight hanging from the crane’s hook, where he remained stuck overnight, shouting for hours for help.

In the morning, a passerby noticed him and alerted the police and fire department.

Firefighters from the elite rescue unit specializing in complex rescues were dispatched to the scene.

The complex rescue operation was completed after about two and a half hours. The boy was transferred for medical treatment and was found to be in good condition.

Deputy Fire Chief Eyal Cohen said that it was a neis that the boy was rescued alive. He added that the special rescue unit had just conducted a complex drill the previous day simulating exactly this type of crane rescue.

Deputy Chief Shai Nechemia, said, “This was a very complex rescue—both because of the extreme height and the difficult, awkward angle in which the crane was positioned.”

The boy told rescue forces that he simply wanted to see the view and that he had shouted for help for hours, but no one heard.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)