A young man has survived falling almost 50 metres into a deep ravine while hiking in Kakadu National Park, before waiting 11 hours to be rescued.
The man, 20, was injured and trapped in a tree near Motor Car Falls when he activated his emergency beacon just after 5pm on Thursday, NT Police said.
It sparked a huge rescue operation with more than a dozen people working to reach him, NT Emergency Service regional manager North Mark Cunnington said.
"The man was situated in extremely difficult terrain and the rescue was challenging," he said.
"We deployed three staff and 13 volunteers from the Palmerston and Darwin units to undertake a vertical rescue, arriving around midnight with their specialist equipment.
The operation took another four hours before he was brought to safety.
"It took several hours and just after 4am the volunteers were able to successfully extract the victim and carried him to the Yurmikmik carpark to waiting Jabiru Clinic staff," Mr Cunnington said.
"Thanks to the coordinated efforts by police, Kakadu National Park rangers, Jabiru Clinic and our dedicated volunteers, we were able to bring this man to safety."
The man is now recovering in Katherine Hospital, according to NT Police.
