The longest survival times of trapped people

In a survival situation, people will often have the ability to move around or travel short distances, but sometimes people get stuck in a confined space they can’t leave. Normally when this happens it’s only for a short period, such as a car crash until they get cut out by the firemen, but every once in a while people are stuck for a very long time, and the current record holders for the unpleasant places people have been trapped are right here:

(Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for the story of robinson crusoe)

Longest time trapped in an elevator – 6 Days

On 28 December, a 76-year-old woman named Kively Papajohn was trapped in the lift of her apartment block for 6 days after the power went out. She was returning from a shopping trip and managed to survive by rationing the fruit and vegetables she had, which throughout her six-day ordeal stopped her from dying of dehydration.

Longest time trapped underwater – 3 Days

Harrison Okene was working on a fishing boat off the coast of Africa when a freak wave flipped the ship he was on and quickly sent it to the bottom of the ocean. The ship sank almost vertically and Harrison was the only one below deck when it sank, saving him from being thrown into the ocean like the rest of the crew. The pressure increase in the water forced all the oxygen in the ship into the room at the front where he was hiding, giving him much more air to breathe than there would normally be in there. After being underwater for just over 60 hours, he was finally rescued by divers who were very surprised to find him still alive.

Longest time trapped underground – 69 days

On October 13, 2010, a large copper and gold mine in northern Chile suffered a collapse of one of its main tunnels, resulting in 33 miners being trapped deep within the mine. They were almost half a mile underground and were at risk of quickly running out of food and water. Fortunately, the rescuers were able to put a small pipe through they could use to send the miners food and water. Efforts to rescue them began right away but due to the depth and size of the collapse, it took 69 days until they were able to save them.

Longest time trapped under rubble – 17 days

In May of 2013, a large powerful earthquake hit the country of Bangladesh and thousands of buildings were destroyed. One of these buildings was a large factory that trapped dozens of people at the same time. Those who didn’t manage to escape within the first hour all perished, except for one woman who was lucky enough to be trapped next to dripping water, which is the only reason she managed to survive the ordeal. When she was rescued she was severely malnourished, but ultimately survived and made a full recovery.

Longest time trapped in a Raft – 438 days

José Salvador Alvarenga is a fisherman from Mexico who went out on a routine fishing trip with one other person in November 2012. During the trip, a large storm hit their boat and destroyed the engine and most of their gear as it pushed them hundreds of miles out into the Atlantic Ocean. The other fisherman with him died from hunger within a few weeks, but José managed to survive alone on rainwater and the occasional fish or bird he was able to catch. After being stranded for over a year, he finally floated onto the coast of one of the Marshall Islands after traveling around 6,700 miles from his starting point.

Longest time trapped on an island – 4 Years and 4 months

Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish sailor who was part of the crew on a merchant ship sailing around the coast of South America. At some point during the voyage, he got into trouble with the captain for apparently stealing from the captain’s alcohol stash, but other sources suggest he tried to rally a group of men against the captain, which didn’t work. Whatever the reason was, the crew decided to maroon him on a small group of islands called Juan Fernández, which are almost 400 miles off the coast of mainland Chile. Luckily for him, there were plenty of feral goats on the island, and he was skilled at fishing and hunting and knew how to build a proper shelter. After surviving on a surprisingly varied diet, he finally saw a friendly ship that belonged to a privateer who stopped at the island looking for fresh water. After speaking with the captain and explaining his situation, he hunted several goats for the journey and joined them on their trip back to the mainland.