ShowCaveBlog

No, no, that’s nothing obscene or fescennine, it is just an ordinary cave accident. Almost.

It happened on New Year’s Day in Cango Cave, a famous and well visited show cave in South Afrika. A group of cave visitors started their tour around noon. One woman was overweight, and thus she was warned at the ticket office not to enter the narrow passage called Tunnel of Love. In the cave she was again warned by the tour guide, but she insisted on trying. All would have gone well, but when she was in the narrow passage, she lost her footing and went down in a splits position. Stuck in the narrow lower part, she was not able to get up again.

Beneath the woman, 22 other cave visitors were stuck behind the narrow passage in a dead end. Among them were two asthmatic children and a diabetic. The rescuers were able to give them blankets, water, chocolate bars and insuline, as one rescuer was able to climb over the woman.

The woman was finally rescued at 23:20, after almost twelve hours, with a pulley and liquid paraffin used to grease the rock surface. The woman, young and mentally strong, was not injured, but she was nevertheless taken to hospital. She was released the next day.

The rescue operation involved several ambulance teams and an helicopter, and although not really needed, they will probably cost Rand 40,000 (about USD 5,700). It is not clear by now who will be liable. The cave management and the guide warned the woman to go in, but they consider more stringent measures now.

Such accidents happen now and then. Our impression is, that rescuing personnel take the chance to see something strange and get paid for it (no offence meant). Cavers generally have an insurance for cave accidents, although it is hard to find an insurance company. Some caving societies offer their own insurance, paid by the members.