Last weekend, a 32-year-old experienced caver suffered a serious fall in a cave in Italy. Injured and trapped, the rescuers work to extract her.
Her name is Ottavia Piana and she is a speleologist. The woman was exploring an unmapped area of the Bueno Fonteno cave, not far from the city of Bergamo in Italy, when she fell several meters. In addition to being injured, she found herself trapped nearly 600 meters underground, reports AP (Associated Press).
A very long rescue
The alert was given this Saturday by eight other cavers who accompanied him. Ottavia Piana “suffered multiple traumas, notably to the face, ribs and knee”while “temperatures varied between 7 and 8°C with high humidity”details the press agency.
Despite everything, rescuers claimed that the victim was “alert and responsive”although it is stuck at a depth of 585 meters. And knowing that she was going to be taken care of reassured her, particularly psychologically and morally. “One thing is certain, this type of operation takes a very long time”however indicated Mauro Guiducci, deputy of the National Alpine Rescue.
But the area is very cramped, and the rescuers are struggling to move forward. They must use small explosives to widen the tunnel to accommodate a stretcher. Mauro Guiducci said he did not know exactly how long it will take to extract Ottavia Piana. The operation mobilizes a total of around a hundred people.
This Monday, she was “transported to a point inside the cave where a heated base camp”, the rescuers said on Facebook, but the rescue is still in progress.
Already trapped in the same place
But for the speleologist, this situation is not unknown. Indeed, the latter already found herself stuck in this same cave, not far from the area where she is currently, with a broken leg in July 2023. She had thus spent two days underground before being saved.
World
