Three Australian rescued from Uluru rock

The three 22-year-old Australia men strayed off the official trail and climbed down a steep slope of the massive outback monolith, only to get stuck at the bottom with no way back up.

"They were lucky there were no injuries," Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services spokeswoman Nicole Ogilvie told AFP. "You just don't know how bad it can get when you actually veer off the path."

The seven rescue workers were flown by helicopter to the top of Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, then descended down to the three men in an arduous 11-hour operation.

"Where they were situated was very steep and we couldn't get them to climb up from where they were, they were actually stuck," Claire Barker, the Northern Territory's southern regional manager for the emergency services, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"So our guys had to start from the top of the rock to where they were and pluck them off, now while that sounds very easy, it's actually very arduous and very difficult," she said.

The men were extracted safe and uninjured.

Uluru - the world's largest monolith - rises 348 meters (1,148 feet) above the outback desert. The World Heritage site forms an important part of Aboriginal mythology.

More than 250,000 people visit Uluru each year despite the local Anangu Aboriginal people requesting tourists respect their sacred rock.

cw/msh (AFP, dpa)