Man survives plunge over Niagara Falls

BUFFALO -- A man plunged at least 180 feet over Niagara Falls on Monday and survived -- only the third person known to have gone over without a safety device and live.

Niagara Parks Police say witnesses reported seeing the man climb over a railing at 10:20 a.m. and "deliberately jump" into the Niagara River 20 to 30 feet above the Horseshoe Falls. He surfaced in the lower Niagara River basin near the Journey Behind the Falls observation platform.

The man, believed to be in his early 40s, was rescued about two hours after he collapsed in waist-deep water near the rocky shore. A helicopter flew him to a hospital for treatment of what police said were life-threatening injuries. They did not identify him.

Since 1901, when Annie Edison Taylor was the first person known to go over the falls and live, 17 others have replicated the feat, most by using safety devices.-- AP