Divers have entered a flooded cave in Slovenia to try to evacuate five people who have been trapped deep inside since Saturday, the head of the rescue mission has said.
A family of three adults with two guides had begun a visit to the Krizna Jama (Cross Cave), 30 miles (50km) south of the capital, Ljubljana, on Saturday morning.
The group became trapped on a dry platform after heavy rain caused a steep rise in the water levels within the cave, which is known for its emerald green underground lakes and can only be visited by boat.
On Monday, Maks Merela, the head of Slovenia’s cave search and rescue unit, said the water levels were starting to recede and his team hoped to have the group out by the end of the day.
“The first section of the cave is passable for now,” Merela said. “The divers are getting inside and we hope they will come out with evacuees in the course of the day, by evening at the latest.”
Cave divers located the group late on Saturday 2km from the entrance to the 8km long cave.
Rescue teams had delivered them a tent, warm clothes, food and medicines. “They are in a super psycho-physical condition, in a dry place, they have a heated tent and all supplies they need,” Merela said. “They are only waiting to get out.”
All exits would be passable when the water subsided, he added. Evacuees would be given diving suits if there was need for them to swim out of the cave, he said.
Igor Benko, the head of Slovenia’s speleological association, told the country’s official STA news agency that it could take a few days for the passage to be safe again.
Thirty-five cave rescuers and eight divers from all over Slovenia were involved in the rescue operation, assisted by 11 firefighters and members of the civil protection force, authorities said.
Slovenia is known for its more than 14,000 caves, some of which can be visited by large groups of tourists travelling on underground trains. Others, like the Krizna cave, can be visited only by small groups using boats.
Krizna Jama is the fourth most biodiverse known cave ecosystem in the world.
Reuter, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report
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2024-01-08 12:40:00Z
CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS93b3JsZC8yMDI0L2phbi8wOC9jYXZlLWZsb29kLWluLXNsb3ZlbmlhLXRyYXBzLWZpdmUtcGVvcGxlLWFmdGVyLWhlYXZ5LXJhaW7SAWdodHRwczovL2FtcC50aGVndWFyZGlhbi5jb20vd29ybGQvMjAyNC9qYW4vMDgvY2F2ZS1mbG9vZC1pbi1zbG92ZW5pYS10cmFwcy1maXZlLXBlb3BsZS1hZnRlci1oZWF2eS1yYWlu
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