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Cave rescue under way to free man trapped in German Alps Cave rescue under way to free man trapped in German Alps
(about 9 hours later)
Rescuers were working on Monday to bring out a man stuck deep inside a cave in the German Alps after he was injured by falling rocks, an effort that police said could take days. Rescuers were working on Monday to bring out a man stuck deep inside a cave in the German Alps after he was hurt by falling rocks, an effort that officials said would take days as experts negotiate a tricky labyrinth of vertical shafts and bottlenecks.
Experts have to negotiate a tricky labyrinth of vertical shafts and bottlenecks to get to the man, police said. A four-member rescue team reached the experienced 52-year-old German cave researcher in the Riesending cave system, near Berchtesgaden in Germany's south-eastern corner, on Monday.
A four-member rescue team reached the 52-year-old German cave researcher early on Monday, inside the Riesending cave system, near Berchtesgaden in Germany's south-eastern corner. The man, whose name was not released, had suffered head injuries a day earlier. One of his two uninjured companions made the 12-hour climb back to the cave entrance to alert authorities, while the other stayed with him.
The man, whose name wasn't released in keeping with German privacy rules, had suffered head and upper body injuries a day earlier. One of his two uninjured companions made a 12-hour climb back to the cave entrance to alert authorities, while the other stayed with him. The injured man is nearly 1,000 metres (3,300ft) below the surface "in one of the most difficult caves in Europe," mountain rescue official Klemens Reindl told the channel n-tv.
The injured man is nearly 1,000 metres (3,300ft) underground "in one of the most difficult caves in Europe", mountain rescue official Klemens Reindl told n-tv television. Officials said he was about 3¾ miles from the cave entrance. He is believed to be in a stable condition. "We have shafts that go straight down 350 metres, where you have to rappel down and climb back up on a rope," Reindl said. The cave system has tight spots where only a slim person can squeeze through, and explorers also have to contend with water.
"We have shafts that go straight down 350 metres, where you have to rappel down and climb back up on a rope," he said. The cave system has tight spots where only a slim person can squeeze through, and explorers also have to contend with water, the mountain rescue service said. Rescuers laid a telephone line several hundred metres down to help the rescue effort, while others set up camps inside the cave system, which is on the border with Austria. They were working in small teams of up to four people each.
Rescuers laid a telephone line several hundred metres deep on Monday to help the rescue effort, while others set up camps inside the cave system on the border with Austria. They were working in several small teams of up to four people each. Another mountain rescue official, Stefan Schneider, told a televised news conference that a doctor was in the cave, but it was not clear when he could get to the patient.
Some 52 cave rescue specialists from Bavaria and 28 from Austria were at the scene. "It's going round the clock, and it's going to last a few more days," Schneider said.
Cave rescue specialists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland have been involved in the operation.