Ottavia Piana has vowed not to set foot in the cave Bueno Fonteno cave complex in Lombardy, northern Italy, after a 75-hour ordeal involving hundreds of rescuers
Speleologist Ottavia Piana rescued after being trapped in cave
A cave explorer who became injured during an ill-fated spelunking trip was hauled out by rescuers – 75 hours after plunging into the cave system’s claustrophobic depths.
Speleologist Ottavia Piana, 32, was trying to map an unexplored section of the Bueno Fonteno cave complex, which sits 500 metres underground near Lago d’Iseo in Lombardy, northern Italy when she fell and injured herself on Saturday afternoon. Ottavia was carried out of the cave on a stretcher by Alpine rescuers having suffered facial, rib and knee fractures 75 hours following the five-metre fall on Wednesday.
Haunting video footage shows the 32-year-old swaddled in blankets as rescuers walk through the winding tunnels that make up the caves, with nurses and doctors among people escorting her from the labyrinth when efforts began on Monday. The rescue was the second of the serial spelunker officials have carried out in 17 months, and garnered a massive emergency presence over several hours.
Around 160 technicians from 13 Italian regions descended on the cave system after members of Ottavia’s team called for help, stating she was injured and trapped deep inside the tunnel. She was removed over a several-hour-long operation during which attending emergency personnel had to stop every 90 minutes to assess her condition.
She was brought out of the cave at around 3am local time (2am GMT) on Wednesday, several days following her initial fall but more than half a day earlier than initially expected. Rescuers were “in a rush” when they emerged from the system around 12 hours before they were anticipated.
Giorgio Pannuzzo, a rescue volunteer who was with Ottavia when she fell on Saturday, said there was “freezing wind” at the entrance to the caves that would have seen her suffer even more. He told local media: “She’s tired, exhausted and in pain…We have succeeded. There was a freezing wind right by the entrance and if we’d stopped she would have suffered even more from the cold. So we were in a rush.”
The CNSAS Alpine rescue service said in a statement that 159 volunteers from 13 regions took part in the operation, which went on “uninterrupted” for 75 hours. A spokesperson for the service said: “The injured woman was constantly monitored and assisted by a total of six doctors and eight nurses. The rescue operation went on uninterrupted for 75 hours.”
While the operation was a success and Ottavia was able to escape with her life for a second time, she has reportedly vowed never to set foot in the cave system ever again.
