Boat in Wimsen Cave Capsized
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| Image: engraving by August Seyffer (9.8.1774-14.8.1845). |
The small cave in Wimsen, in the Schwäbische Alb (Swabian Jura) in south Germany, is the only river cave in Germany which is a show cave. The cave is toured by a wooden boat. The visitors board the boat at the entrance and the guide pulls the boat along ropes through the only 50m long cave.
On 01-JUN-2006 the boat has capsized. 16 visitors from Germany and Austria had to swim for five minutes through the cold water, until they were rescued by a second boat. The water is only 8° Celsius. One elderly lady from northern Germany was treated for hypothermia.
Although the accident was rather harmless, the police are investigating the reason for the accident. It seems the boat capsized when the boatman tried to turn around at the end of the cave. Several valuables, like cell phones and cameras, were lost in the water or destroyed.
