Mark Dickey, the American speleologist trapped in the tunnels of a cave in southern Turkey after suffering internal bleeding, has been rescued. After nine days the 40-year-old saw the light again thanks to an international team of rescuers.
The explorer developed stomach problems while examining the depths of Morca Cave, a remote complex of winding underground passages in the Taurus Mountains. The cave, the third deepest in Turkey, reaches almost 1.3 kilometers underground at its lowest point.
Dickey felt ill at a depth of 1,120 metres.
Rescuers gave him a blood transfusion. Then they tied him to a stretcher, which sometimes had to be lifted vertically with a rope through particularly narrow passages. The teams pulling the ropes took breaks from time to time, rising to the surface before returning underground. “We congratulate all those who contributed to the operation,” the Turkish Speleological Federation said.
(Unioneonline/ss)
