Five people who have been trapped in a cave in Slovenia for more than two days due to heavy rainfall and high water levels were successfully rescued on Monday.
“It is a day of happiness, it’s a day of life,” said Sandi Curk of the Slovenian civil protection service.
The family of three adults and their two guides, all from Slovenia, became stuck in the cave on Saturday after heavy rainfall raised the water level. The eight-kilometre cave system with a string of emerald-coloured underground lakes is accessible only by boat and raft with a guide.
Water levels receded inside the Krizna Jama cave in southwestern Slovenia on Monday, making the rescue possible.
Those rescued were located in a dry area about two kilometres inside the cave. A six-member team of divers carried out the hours-long rescue operation, bringing them out in a small boat. The water temperature inside the cave was 6 C with very low visibility.
Those rescued did not appear at the news conference, but were in good spirits, according to Igor Benko, head of the Speleological Association of Slovenia.
None needed medical help and all have taken the ordeal well, said doctor Zlatko Pogorilić. “I think we were lucky it all ended like this,” he said.
Slovenia is known for its more than 14,000 caves, with Krizna Jama being the fourth-biggest known underground ecosystem in the world.