Man trapped in cave dies with rescuers near

Rescuers work in the southeastern Pennsylvania woods.

MOUNT JOY, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- As rescuers were working Thursday to remove the last boulder that had pinned a man trapped in a cave for more than 24 hours, another collapse dropped several tons of rock onto the man, killing him.

"Rescuers were working alongside him when we had a catastrophic collapse around 2 p.m.," said Mount Joy Fire Department spokesman Jim Wolfe. "The material landed on his chest and abdomen. It was unsurvivable."

Sharn Cleland, 24, was pinned from the waist down in a collapse inside the cave around 1 p.m. Wednesday as he and several friends explored the cave, his friends said.

Cleland, trapped about six feet inside the 20-foot deep cave, had been conscious and alert throughout the ordeal, talking with rescuers as they worked, said Wolfe.

"They were down to one major boulder pinning him down on his left hip," Wolfe said. "They had secured some shoring around him but his chest and abdomen were still exposed and then several tons of rocks hit him during the collapse."

Rescuers feared such a thing might happen after about seven other small collapses took place during the rescue. Wolfe said that is why they had been working so slowly and methodically.

Wolfe said the limestone cave was very unstable. He did not believe any work by the rescuers brought on the collapse that killed Cleland.

Wolfe said he was unsure why Cleland and his friends were in the cave. It is on private property posted with "No Trespassing" signs. He said nearby mines in this southeastern Pennsylvania area had been sealed and it was not an area where cave explorers would regularly go.