Rescue effort as tour party trapped by flood waters in cave in Slovenia
Five people are trapped in a cave in Slovenia and unable to leave because of high water levels caused by torrential rainfall.
The group - a Slovenian family group of three adults and two guides - have been stuck in the Krizna Jama cave since Saturday when water levels rose inside, blocking the way out. Slovenian rescue teams said divers have reached the group, moved them to a safe spot envisaged for such emergencies and set up a heated shelter where they will have to wait for water levels to drop.
All five people are fine, said Igor Benko, the head of Slovenia's Speleological Association. The group entered early on Saturday for a tour of the eight-kilometre (five-mile) cave system with its chain of underground lakes. Visitors are allowed in only as part of guided tours.
The cave system can only be accessed by boat (Getty Images/imageBROKER RF)The cave system can only be accessed by a boat along the Bloscica River that runs through it, said the official STA news agency. Mr Benko told the agency that subterranean water levels are expected to start falling soon but that it might take a few days for the passage to be safe again.
Currently, 35 cave rescuers and eight divers from all over Slovenia are involved in the rescue operation, assisted by 11 firefighters and members of the civil protection force, authorities said. Krizna Jama is the fourth biggest known underground ecosystem in the world in terms of biodiversity, STA said.
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It is reminiscent of the 2018 trapping of 12 members of the Thai Wild Boars football team, who entered Tham Luang Cave with their 25-year-old coach, and remained there nine days as rescuers desperately worked out ways to save them outside.
The team's nightmare began when they became trapped by floodwater deep into the cave. The football team survived a long nine days trapped in the Tham Luang cave before they were found and had little access to food or drink. They were able to survive the ordeal through a combination of birthday snacks, dripping water and meditation. After their rescue, the team and their coach described how they had survived by drinking water that was dripping off stalactites in the cave.
The team had originally entered the cave while celebrating one of the boys 17th birthdays and had reportedly bought snacks together to celebrate. It's believed that it was these snacks that helped to sustain them while they were trapped.
However the coach reportedly refused to eat the food, saving it for the boys instead, leaving him weaker than the others when they were finally rescued.
Before becoming a football coach, Ekapol had trained as a Buddhist monk for a decade and it was reported that he kept himself and the boys calm while they were trapped and helped to preserve their energy by teaching them to meditate.
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