By The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — A man who was seriously injured when he fell 35 feet (10.7 meters) from a wall bordering the Indianapolis Zoo was lifted to safety early Wednesday by firefighters using ropes and a rescue basket.

The 36-year-old man called 911 late Tuesday and told dispatchers he had fallen from a wall in the area just west of downtown, said Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief Rita Reith.

“He told firefighters that he sat on the wall, fell asleep and when he woke up he had fallen off the wall,” Reith said in a news release. “It is unclear why he was on the property or how long he had been there.”

Firefighters found the man, who told dispatchers he wasn't sure where he was, about 12:06 a.m. Wednesday in a wooded area beneath a limestone wall located along a walking path that borders the zoo's property. Firefighters then used ropes and a rescue basket to haul the man to safety about an hour later.

The man was taken to Eskenazi Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Reith said.