The injured speaker was flown to safety in northern Italy after being trapped for 75 hours
MILAN (AP) – An injured cave explorer in northern Italy was airlifted to safety Wednesday, 75 hours after he fell while trying to map an undiscovered branch in the Bueno Fonteno cave, mountain rescuers said.
The last leg of the rescue went better than expected, and the workers who were carrying 32-year-old Ottavia Piana with her wrists tied reached the mouth of the cave in the morning. It was the second time in 17 months that he had been rescued from a cave near Lago d’Iseo northeast of Bergamo.
Piana suffered multiple fractures, including his face, ribs and knee, when he fell 5 meters (13 feet) while exploring an unseen part of the cave on Saturday, doctors said. Bueno Fonteno Cave is located about 500 meters (yards) underground, with a mapped area of about 19 kilometers (about 12 miles).
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Moving through the narrow, unknown part of the cave was very difficult. The video shows him wrapped in blankets and shackled at the wrists being led through narrow corridors by a team of helmeted rescuers, including doctors and nurses on rotation. They stopped every 90 minutes to check on his condition.
On Tuesday afternoon, they reached the main tunnel and the final passage went much faster than expected, arriving at least 12 hours earlier than expected.
About 160 experts from 13 Italian regions helped in the round-the-clock rescue launched at midnight on Saturday, after members of his team were informed that he was injured and trapped deep in the tunnel.
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