Rescuers in Italy are using explosives to try free a 32-year-old woman trapped in a cave deep underground, after she fell and sustained serious injuries during an expedition.
Ottavia Piana is stranded 585 metres (1,920 feet) underground in the Bueno Fonteno cave system, northeast of Bergamo city, as teams of rescuers, including medics and technicians, work to stabilise her condition and navigate the narrow, jagged passages that block her exit.
Ms Piana, 32, considered an expert spelunker, injured herself after falling five metres (16ft) on Saturday evening during an expedition with eight others to map a section of an uncharted branch of the cave system. She fell in a similar area last year, fracturing her leg and remained trapped for 48 hours.
Rescuers said Ms Piana was alert and responsive when they reached the part of the cabe system she is in.
Work to clear the narrowest section of the cave began Sunday evening but has progressed slowly, according to local media. As of Monday morning, rescuers had yet to pass the tightest bottleneck – an approximately 100-metre stretch requiring drills, hammers and small explosives to widen the pathway to allow a stretcher to pass through.
According to Corriere Bergamo, medics stabilised her at a temporary heated base camp, providing oxygen, medicine, and a fan to circulate warm air in the humid, 8-degree Celsius environment.
“We can’t predict how long it will take, but these operations are always lengthy”, Mauro Guiducci, a spokesman for the rescue operatuon said. About 20 rescuers are inside the cave working to move Piana on a stretcher, while dozens more assist above ground.
Ms Piana was part of a group of 12 cavers from the Italian alpine club exploring an uncharted branch of the cave system. Known as one of the largest karst labyrinths in Lombardy, the Bueno Fonteno Abyss lies between Lake Iseo and Lake Idro. The group had set out Saturday morning intending to map the tunnels when Ms Piana fell.
Her parents, who have remained at the Fonteno base camp since the rescue began, are reportedly “confident,” according to rescuers. Fellow caver Samuele Pendesini told The Pinnacle Gazette: “She is an explorer, super competent, she is wonderful.”
