Man Trapped in Cave Dies as Rescuers Work

M O U N T  J O Y, Pa., July 5 -- A man trapped in a cave for nearly 24hours was apparently killed today in an "unsurvivablecollapse" during the rescue mission, a fire official said.

Sharn Cleland, 24, had been pinned by falling rocks since Wednesday. He was trapped from hiswaist down.

After the latest collapse, rescueworkers shifted the operation to a recovery effort, said Bill Hall,Mount Joy fire chief.

Hall called the cave a "house of cards."

"Anything that shifted one way was going to cause something toshift another way," he said, noting that rescue teams had tocontend with a series of rock slides as they attempted to buttressunstable walls.

Rescuers Were Removing Final Rock

Cleland remained awake through the night as rescue crews workedaround him. Rescuers had been steadily chipping away at one finalrock that was pinning Cleland when the latest collapse occurred. The cave is on the campus of the Lancaster County Career andTechnology Center, which has "No Trespassing" signs posted in thearea. Cleland, an unemployed construction worker, had crawledheadfirst into the opening and was about 10 feet down when the wallcollapsed. Cleland had complained of pain in his legs and back from theweight of the rocks. He was given an oxygen mask, intravenousfluids and a wool hat to fend off hypothermia. The temperature inthe cave was 58 degrees.