Man hears 'human cry' while searching mountains – and makes chilling find below him

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A farmer found himself trapped in a pitch-black cave for four days, with one chilling image capturing his ordeal.Sum Bora, from Cambodia's north-western Battambang province, was aware that certain hard-to-reach caves in the Chakrai Mountain were rich in the fertiliser of bat poo (guano).Podcaster Mr Ballen explained: "Other people in the area that went out harvesting bat guano wouldn't go into this cave, and the reason for that is the cave was really, really narrow and tight and frankly dangerous."However Sum, who was a particularly slim 28-year-old, knew he could slip into spaces that were too narrow for many of his neighbours so happily set off in August 2019.Using the faint light from his torch, Sum noticed the cave walls "moving," indicating the presence of a large bat colony and, consequently, an abundance of guano.

Unfortunately, disaster struck when he dropped his torch into a small six-inch-wide crevice and fell in while trying to retrieve it, becoming trapped.His absence one evening didn't immediately raise alarms with his family, reports the Mirror.

But, as time passed, hope dwindled for Sum, who faced the grim prospect of dying alone in the cave."He was totally wedged," recounted Mr Ballen. "No food, no water he was going to die and he knew it."Sum later confided to the Khmer Times: "I had lost hope of staying alive and if I had a knife with me I'd have killed myself."Concern grew after three days without contact, prompting one of Sum's guano-hunting friends to search Chakrai Mountain, where Sum had mentioned he might go.

During the search, Sum's brother heard a faint cry within a narrow space."Is that you, Sum?" he called out, hearing his brother's weak response but unable to locate him.