Cave diving accident in the Mühlbachquellhöhle

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More german articles:


In 700 Metern Tiefe: Forscher stirbt bei Tauchunfall in Höhle

Toter nach Tauchunfall in Höhle

there was a fatal accident. As reported by Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) and the “Donaukurier”, one of four experienced cave explorers got into trouble at a depth of 700 meters . The Upper Palatinate police headquarters announced the death of the researcher late on Saturday. Further details about the course of the accident and the victim remained open at first.

The researchers entered the mountain with special diving equipment in order to measure new areas. After the accident that was noticed, one of the group of four went back to get help. He then went back down with a specialized cave diver. Specialized cave diving teams from Erlangen were still on the road on Saturday evening to rescue the injured man. However, the rescue came too late.

"A group of divers entered a cave system," reported a spokesman for the police headquarters. "One of these divers then probably got health problems."

In a cave near Dietfurt (Neumarkt district), around 50 kilometers west of Regensburg, there was a fatal accident. As reported by Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) and the “Donaukurier”, one of four experienced cave explorers got into trouble at a depth of 700 meters . The Upper Palatinate police headquarters announced the death of the researcher late on Saturday. Further details about the course of the accident and the victim remained open at first.

The researchers entered the mountain with special diving equipment in order to measure new areas. After the accident that was noticed, one of the group of four went back to get help. He then went back down with a specialized cave diver. Specialized cave diving teams from Erlangen were still on the road on Saturday evening to rescue the injured man. However, the rescue came too late.

"A group of divers entered a cave system," reported a spokesman for the police headquarters. "One of these divers then probably got health problems."

MORE ON THE SUBJECT

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The action was complicated from the start: The cave entrance is elevated in a forest, the path down leads past several water-filled passages, so-called siphons. The cave is the Mühlbachquellhöhle in the Franconian Alb, one of the longest and partly water-filled cave systems in Germany.

A total of 200 emergency services from all over Bavaria were on site, reported the "BR". Even a helicopter was on duty. An attempt to establish a telephone connection with the researchers failed.

In 2014, a rescue operation in the giant thing shaft cave near Berchtesgaden brought the previously little known scene of cave explorers into the public eye. At Pentecost, one of the mostly voluntary workers was hit in the head by a rock fall in the deepest cave in Germany. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and was brought back to light by more than 700 helpers from a depth of 1,000 meters in an eleven-day, almost one million euro rescue operation.
 
In a German news video, they say he got stuck in a small passage. About 1h into the cave.

The other 3 divers freed him, but he got bad injuries and died while the rescue team was on the way.
 
Now the news are saying that the victim got health problems.What exactly happened is under investigation.
 
Around 200 emergency services were on duty at the Mühlbach spring system near Dietfurt after a 58-year-old had an accident in one of the caves. Together with three fellow researchers, he had been on a tour of discovery. He could only be recovered dead, the other three people remained unharmed.

What happened in the cave system is still unclear. The casualty had been an active member for a good ten years and was considered an experienced diver, says Schöffel. The 57-year-old was part of a team investigating the paths of water in the Karst. The experts work with so-called tracer substances, a type of dye that makes the movements visible.

"Those who vented ahead churned up mud"
The accident - at least the criminal police, who conduct the investigation from you too - happened on the way back. The 57-year-old was the last of a group of four to dive through the bottleneck. "This section is called the Mole Siphon for a good reason, you have no view there, and the people who swirled up have churned up mud," explains the club's spokesman.


When diving through the six-meter passage, the researchers use compressed air cylinders and masks. The man probably suffered a cardiac arrest, the investigators are currently assuming - but why is still completely unclear. One can only speculate, says club spokesman Schöffel. It is certain that a fall could not have been the cause of the accident.

200 rescuers in action
The other divers quickly noticed that the 57-year-old was missing - and initiated a rescue operation. They found him lifeless. The researchers immediately began ventilation and heart massage, and a third rushed to the exit to alert the rescuers. A large contingent of around 200 workers moved in. For almost four and a half hours they fought for the man's life - in vain. He died around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The Mühlbachquellhöhle is over ten kilometers long and is one of the ten longest systems in Germany. It is located in the Franconian Alb in the Upper Palatinate, in the cave of the Mühlbach, one of the largest karst springs in Northern Bavaria. The cave with its many underwater sections is not accessible to the general public.

Tödliches Höhlen-Unglück: Kollegen kämpften stundenlang um Leben von Taucher
 
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