Woman stuck in well for 7 hours

An elderly woman who fell down a hidden well saved herself by clinging to the sides for seven hours on Saturday.

The 75-year-old woman surnamed Dai was tilling soil to plant vegetables with another woman when she fell 20 meters down a water well in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

"If she hadn't stretched out and jammed herself against the walls, she would have fallen into the water," a rescuer said.

Her companion noticed that Dai had disappeared from the open field as she prepared for lunch around 1 pm, but noticed her bicycle still there.

An initial search for Dai were unsuccessful until her husband and neighbors made a second sweep of the area around 3 pm, media reported.

"We found her around 6 pm," said a rescuer surnamed Wu, who explained the well was hidden from view because it was half-covered by a mat. The search party alerted local authorities, and a firefighter was lowered down to pull her out. Dai suffered minor head injuries from the ordeal and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.