An American researcher was successfully raised by rescue workers in Turkey on Sunday from the 1,040-meter (3,410-foot) depth of a cave to the 700-meter (2,297-foot) level, where he will rest in a base camp before they continue the strenuous journey to the surface.
Mark Dickey, a 40-year-old experienced caver, began vomiting on September 2 as a result of stomach bleeding while on an expedition with a small group in the Morca cave, one of the deepest in the world, in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains.
On Saturday afternoon, a rescue mission was launched with the assistance of medical professionals, paramedics, and skilled cave divers from all around Europe.
At various points along the shaft, they erected tiny medical base camps, giving Dickey a place to rest while they worked slowly and laboriously to free him. At 03:24 local time (GMT+3), Mark was delivered to the campground at -700 meters.
He will now resume his journey after taking a break and receiving the required care, the Speleological Federation of Turkey stated on its official X, formerly known as Twitter, account.
Turkish authorities said there are 190 personnel from eight countries taking part in the operation, 153 of them search and rescue experts.
The most challenging part of the rescue operation is widening the narrow cave passages to allow stretcher lines to pass through at low depths, Yusuf Ogrenecek of the speleological federation previously said.
The extraction is expected to take up to 10 days, depending on his condition.
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