WELLINGTON, New Zealand, July 2 (UPI) -- New Zealand authorities searching for a missing truck driver were able to finally locate the injured man thanks to the global positioning system on his truck.
Searchers found the truck driver just south of New Zealand's Port Waikato using the technology last weekend, rescuing him 30 hours after he fell off a nearly 200-foot cliff, The New Zealand Herald said Monday.
The man had apparently gone off the cliff's edge while inside the vehicle, but was thrown free of the truck as it plummeted to the ground below.
After being rescued Sunday, the unidentified man was taken to a local hospital where he is said to be in serious but stable condition.
Yet those who saw the extent of the damage to the truck and the height of the cliff labeled his current status a near miracle.
"Had he been in the truck, our guys reckon it would have killed him," St John Ambulance operations manager Steve Walker said.
The Herald said a search was launched for the driver after he did not return to work from a pick-up.
