Cave diving rescue in Germany. Anyone heard anything?

hoehlenforscher

Active member
Found something:

https://www.wochenblatt.de/polizei/regensburg/artikel/349233/hoehlenunfall-im-landkreis-neumarkt-spezialkraefte-muessen-taucher-retten

So one diver was trapped but his mates got him free, but due to injuries sustained and difficulty of the cave he cannot exit the cave alone. Ongoing

 

rsch

Member
https://www.donaukurier.de/lokales/beilngries/dietfurt/Forscher-stirbt-in-Hoehle-bei-Muehlbach;art394147,4740667
 

PeteHall

Moderator
On Saturday, 06.02.2021, a 57 year old caver died in the ?M?hlbachquellh?hle? in Bavaria/Germany near Dietfurt. This cave has several siphons and is more than 9 km long. (Infos and map on www.muehlbachquellhoehle.de)

The caver entered the cave saturday morning with 3 other cavers to install data loggers. They were on their way back to the entrance where they have to pass a short passage (about 6m) under water, so called ?Maulwurfsiphon?. This was done with a mask and a small compressed air cylinder. This siphon is about 700 m from the entrance. Three cavers had already passed the siphon but then the fourth person did not appear. They returned in the siphon and pulled the victim out. As he was not breathing and there was no heart-activity, they immediately started with the resuscitation. One caver run outside to call for help. Then the official rescue started at about 16:00 h. The resuscitation was done for about 3,5 hours and then terminated because there were no hope for life.

The victim were brought outside at about 22:00 h.  More than 200 people were involved: Red cross, fire-fighters, water-rescue, technical support, mountain-rescue and also the bavarian cave-rescue as part of the mountain-rescue. About 40 cave-rescuers were directly involved.

The diving-commission from ECRA offered their help but it was not necessary.

The caving-community is mourning with the family of the victim.

https://caverescue.eu/accident-in-german-water-cave-with-tragic-end/
 

tomferry

Well-known member
Does anyone no any information about this 6m section is it notoriously difficult or anything ? I read that the team was very experienced.
 

PeteHall

Moderator
Down and beyond said:
Does anyone no any information about this 6m section is it notoriously difficult or anything ? I read that the team was very experienced.

I was thinking the same thing. 6m would often be considered a free-dive.

I believe the most common cause of death in cave diving is entanglement in the diving line. This can (and has) happened on free-dive's, where the amount of time you have to fix a problem is considerably shorter. If the caver was using a small cylinder to assist a free-dive (or had been using it for a longer sump elsewhere in the cave) the available air would be very limited in an emergency.

Not a great way to go perhaps, but then again, we've all got to go sometime and he would have died pretty quickly, doing what he loved, with his mates. I hope that his family will be able to find some consolation in this, though it is never easy losing a loved one, particularly at a premature age.

mikem said:
Sounds more like a heart attack than an issue with the cave.
You might well be right and this can obviously happen anywhere. A friend was on a trip to Poole Sink, when one of the group had a heart attack at the entrance as they were kitting up and sadly died. As above though, he died quickly (and one assumes fairly painlessly) doing what he loved, with him mates; I know that has helped others in dealing with the loss.
 

tomferry

Well-known member
Must be a extremely complicated 6m or at a guess the translation from German to English possibly could have gone slightly wrong ? , I no very little at all about diving but I would assume as the other 3 left the dive zone they would have turned around looking for him and saw his torch spinning about they would of stuck their head back in ?  Is a terrible shame I hope we get a update and a conclusion of what caused this / more information
 

mikem

Well-known member
The first report says he was injured / stuck, but that may just be an assumption by reporters. The third says he drowned, the 2nd article more wisely avoids making any statements about what may have happened.

The silt kicked up in sumps often means you can't see anything (not even a powerful light) & the last thing you want is to meet someone coming the other way when you're trying to get out.
 

tomferry

Well-known member
mikem said:
The first report says he was injured / stuck, but that may just be an assumption by reporters. The third says he drowned, the 2nd article more wisely avoids making any statements about what may have happened.

The silt kicked up in sumps often means you can't see anything (not even a powerful light) & the last thing you want is to meet someone coming the other way when you're trying to get out.


Ahh I see very true ! That would make sense thanks for explaining  the later part to me .
 

strutsi

New member
The part ?Maulwurfsiphon? is 6m long and 50cm wide, according to this source https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/oberpfalz-hoehle-taucher-dietfurt-unfall-1.5198172
 

mikem

Well-known member
Google translate:
Above the rock, below mud, the water brown, completely opaque. Maybe he panicked, says Sch?ffel, maybe because dirt got into his breathing apparatus, the oxygen then blows straight into your face, maybe he lost the mask, couldn't find it again. Maybe he also had health problems. Of course, Sch?ffel doesn't know either
 
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