Rescuers Free Woman Trapped Between Cinder-Block Walls

A frantic rescue operation was conducted in downtown Portland on Wednesday morning to free a woman trapped inside a cinder-block wall.

Crews worked for several three hours to free the woman, who was reported to be alert and communicating as firefighters drilled holes into the wall.

The victim fell into a foot-wide gap between the wall and the building behind it.

Crews were called to the scene around 3:30 a.m. local time Wednesday by a witness who heard the victim's screams for help and saw her trying to pull herself out of the space.

It's not clear how the woman came to be trapped inside the wall. Witnesses told local TV stations that she had been smoking or walking on the roof of a two-story building.

Firefighters cut a large hole in the cinder-block wall to reach the woman, who was unable to move. And they inflated an airbag to separate the walls.

Finally, after approximately four hours, the woman was freed.

As she was placed onto a stretcher and waited to be taken away by ambulance, she could be seen hugging and kissing a man at her side.