A cave explorer who became injured during an ill-fated spelunking trip was hauled out by rescuers - 75 hours after plunging into the cave system's claustrophobic depths. Speleologist Ottavia Piana, 32, was trying to map an unexplored section of the Bueno Fonteno cave complex, which sits 500 metres underground near Lago d'Iseo in Lombardy, northern Italy when she fell and injured herself on Saturday afternoon. Ottavia was carried out of the cave on a stretcher by Alpine rescuers having suffered facial, rib and knee fractures 75 hours following the five-metre fall on Wednesday.
Haunting video footage shows the 32-year-old swaddled in blankets as rescuers walk through the winding tunnels that make up the caves, with nurses and doctors among people escorting her from the labyrinth when efforts began on Monday. The rescue was the second of the serial spelunker officials have carried out in 17 months, and garnered a massive emergency presence over several hours.
Around 160 technicians from 13 Italian regions descended on the cave system after members of Ottavia's team called for help, stating she was injured and trapped deep inside the tunnel. She was removed over a several-hour-long operation during which attending emergency personnel had to stop every 90 minutes to assess her condition.
She was brought out of the cave at around 3am local time (2am GMT) on Wednesday, several days following her initial fall but more than half a day earlier than initially expected. Rescuers were "in a rush" when they emerged from the system around 12 hours before they were anticipated.
