A researcher was rescued on Sunday after being injured inside one of the deepest Texas caves in Terrell County, officials said.
Texas Game Wardens
A researcher was rescued on Sunday after being injured inside one of the deepest Texas caves in Terrell County, officials said.
A research team was in Sorcerer’s Cave, Texas’ deepest cave at 567 feet, Saturday evening, when a rock broke loose during the ascent and struck a female researcher in the head about 6 p.m., according to Texas Game Wardens.
“Due to the cave’s depth and vertical layout, the group could not alert authorities until about 9 p.m.,” officials with Texas Game Wardens wrote in a social media post.
Texas Game Wardens, along with the Terrell County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Border Patrol BORSTAR, the Fort Stockton and Sanderson fire departments, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Sanderson EMS crew extricated the group about 5 a.m. Sunday, officials said.
The injured researcher was airlifted to a hospital in Odessa, officials said. Her condition was not unknown.
Shambhavi covers crime, law enforcement and other breaking news in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. She graduated from the University of North Texas and previously covered a variety of general assignment topics in West Texas. She grew up in Nepal.
A man was rescued from a restricted cave area in Crosby Farm Regional Park late Friday night, according to the St. Paul Fire Department.
The fire department was called to the area around 11:30 p.m. for an emergency involving two young men who were trying to explore the cave system. The pair were able to gain access through a breach at the top of a concreate barrier at the cave’s opening. According to the fire department, the breach was about 10-12 feet above the ground.
The two men used rope to lower themselves to the cave floor, according to the fire department. During the attempt, one of the men feel approximately 25 feet, injuring himself in the process. The second man remained with the injured person until 911 was contacted.
After arriving on scene, fire crews used ground ladders to locate the victims.
Two rescuers entered the cave through the same breach and began a medical assessment. Crews outside the cave worked to make the breach larger so the two men could get out.
WCCO
The injured man was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.
After getting the two men out of the cave system, rescue crews remained on scene to confirm there was no one else.
The St. Paul Fire Department says the caves are sealed within city parks for safety reasons.
Mark Dickey, an American researcher who was rescued more than a week after getting trapped over 3,000 feet underground in a Turkish cave, spoke to CBS News’ Ramy Inocencio about his harrowing experience and remarkable rescue.
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Mark Dickey, who got trapped in a cave in Turkey after suffering a medical emergency, has been rescued. He was stuck in the cave for 10 days. Ramy Inocencio has the story.
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The dayslong delicate rescue operation focused on rescuing an American researcher who fell ill while exploring a Turkish cave may begin today. Mark Dickey has been 3,000 feet below the Earth’s surface for over a week. Chris Livesay has more.
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Dozens of rescuers and medics are working around the clock to rescue American researcher Mark Dickey, who became trapped in a Turkish cave more than 3,000 feet underground after he suffered severe gastro-intestinal bleeding. The operation is expected to take several days. Chris Livesay reports.
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Istanbul — Turkish and international cave rescue experts were working Thursday to save an American speleologist trapped at a depth of more than 3,280 feet in a cave in southern Turkey after he became ill. Mark Dickey, 40, became sick during an international expedition in Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains, in the Mersin province, according to the European Cave Rescue Association. He has gastrointestinal bleeding and has been unable to leave the cave on his own, the association said on its website.
It described Dickey as “a highly trained caver and a cave rescuer himself” who is well known for his participation in many international expeditions. He is secretary of the association’s medical committee.
Mark Dickey, a U.S. caver who was trapped in the Morca cave system in Turkey on September 7, 2023, poses for a photo in Mentone, Alabama, in a May 12, 2023 file photo provided by the National Cave Rescue Commission.
REUTERS/NCRC/Handout
Dickey was on an expedition mapping the 4,186-foot-deep Morca cave system for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association (ASPEG) before becoming sick, according to Yusuf Ogrenecek of the Speleological Federation of Turkey.
Turkish disaster relief agency AFAD and rescue team UMKE were working with Turkish and international cavers on a plan to hoist Dickey out of the cave system, the rescue association said.
Ogrenecek of the Speleological Federation of Turkey told The Associated Press that Dickey’s condition had stabilized, and that he was in “good spirits.”
“Mark’s condition continues to improve,” the federation tweeted. “Doctors will decide whether it is possible for him to leave without a stretcher.”
The rescue efforts were made up of more than 170 people, including doctors and paramedics who were tending to Dickey, and other experienced cavers, Ogrenecek said, adding that the rescue operation could take as long as two or three weeks, though he said it could be shorter.
A team of rescuers from Italy’s National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Team was to fly to Turkey Thursday night. A total of around 50 rescuers were expected at the entrance of the cave early Friday ready to participate in the operation, directed by Turkish authorities.
Marton Kovacs of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service said the cave was being prepared for Dickey’s safe extraction, with narrow passages being widened to accommodate a stretcher. The danger of falling rocks was also being addressed.
The rescue teams, from Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Croatia and Poland, hoped the extraction could begin Saturday or Sunday. Kovacs said lifting Dickey would likely take several days and that several bivouac points were being prepared along the way so that Dickey and the rescue teams can rest.
The cave has been divided into several sections, with each country’s rescue team being responsible for one section.
The Hungarian Cave Rescue Service, made up of volunteer rescuers, was the first to arrive at Dickey’s location and provided emergency blood transfusions to stabilize his condition.
Cave rescue operations are inherently complicated, and the dramatic rescue of a boys soccer team from a cave in Thailand in 2018 captivated the world. That effort was far more daunting than the one facing the rescuers in Turkey, as the people who needed rescuing were all young, inexperienced cavers. They had to be sedated for the extraction, which involved significant portions of underwater movement.
An American speleologist who fell ill during a caving expedition and got trapped more than 3,200 feet below ground has prompted a complicated rescue effort involving over 150 people from around the world. Experts say it will take at least four days to get Mark Dickey to the earth’s surface. Ramy Inocencio has details.
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