Woman survives 60 hours in manhole trap

A Chinese woman who was pushed into a manhole and spent three days in the darkness underground has spoken of her terrifying ordeal.

The woman, known only as Guo, was shoved into an open manhole covered with a piece of cardboard in Haikou City on December 12 last year, TV NZ reports.

Security footage before the attack shows a man covering an open manhole with a piece of cardboard.

Later the same man huddles under an umbrella with Guo as he leads her along the city street and into the concealed opening.

As the woman stumbles into the hole she is pushed down by the man along with her umbrella.

The attacker then places the lid back on the manhole and abandons the woman.

Guo managed to escape around 60 hours later and was left swollen and pale after spending so long in the soaking and smelly conditions.

"I did not sleep at all the first night I fell in the manhole," Guo said.

"I could see the darkness around me. I thought that I would not be choked to death if I looked up."

Guo said she stripped off her clothes inside the hole and tore them up into pieces to create a cloth ladder to escape.

She was eventually rescued on December 15 after spending almost three days underground.

She said her attacker, whose surname is also Guo, pushed her into the hole because she owed him around $18,000.

He has been arrested over the suspected murder attempt.

He reportedly told police that he tried to kill Guo because he had an affair with her but later admitted that he tried to kill her over an unpaid debt.

Police said Guo was addicted to gambling and had accumulated large debts.

Source: TV NZ

Author: Martin Zavan, Approving editor: Kieran Campbell