A man has been hailed a miracle survivor after spending three days trapped at the bottom of a ravine in southern France — kept alive by little more than his shopping bag and bottles of red wine.

The 77-year-old pensioner - who has not been identified - had set off to do his grocery shopping in La Grand-Combe, in the Gard region, and was cycling home to Saint-Julien-des-Points when he missed a bend on the RN106 road, plunging 40 metres down a steep embankment into the bed of the Gardon River.

His bicycle was left mangled in the fall, and the man — unable to climb out of the ravine — spent three nights calling desperately for help whenever he heard passing cars above. No one heard him.

Exposed to the cold and damp, he survived by rationing the contents of his shopping bag — food and sever

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