The 59-year-old man from Fontainebleau was found unconscious seven meters underground in the Marchepied (Lot) spring. Relief is mobilized to clear his body.
A 59-year-old speleologist from Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne) was killed in a dive at the "Source de Marchepied" near Figeac (Lot) on Friday. His body was found unconscious seven meters deep, stuck in a gut (the actual word was boyau, which might also be translated as tube).
It was another speleologist who accompanied him who gave the alert around 12:30. "There are strong presumptions" that the man died, said to Laurence Tur, the sub-prefect of Figeac. He can not be officially declared dead because the body has not been reassembled (the actual word was remonté, which might also be translated as brought up).
Four firefighters are mobilized on site but "access is very complicated" because they do not have "the technical skills to intervene where the person is," they explained. Four French Speleo-Secours divers are expected in reinforcements.
A popular area for speleologists but dangerous
An investigation will be opened to determine the circumstances of the diver's death, said the sub-prefect. Siphons, drowned galleries and narrow ducts: more than ten meters below ground and stretching over more than 1,300 meters, the source of Marchepied is technical.
(An update four hours later said the body had been recoverd.)
