Injured explorer trapped in Italian cave for over three days finally rescued

18 December 2024, 12:35

An expert potholer has been rescued after being trapped for 75 hours in a cave in Italy.

Ottavia Piana had been mapping an unexplored branch of the Bueno Fonteno cave in northern Italy with the Sebino Project on Saturday when she fell five metres (16 feet) and became trapped.

After three days, Ms Piana was carried to safety on Wednesday morning.

The last leg of the operation proceeded smoother than expected with rescuers emerging from the cave with Ms Piana on a stretcher 12 hours ahead of schedule.

Read more: Major rescue operation underway as cave explorer injured and trapped in Italian cave for two days

She suffered multiple fractures to her face, ribs and knee as a team of more than 100 rescuers worked to free her from the narrow, uncharted cave.

This was not the first time she found herself stuck.

She was trapped just 17 months ago near the exact same spot she was rescued from.

When she was stuck previously it took two days for her to be rescued.

Video footage showed her wrapped in blankets on a stretcher being passed through the cave by the rescue team.

Doctors and nurses were placed on rotation and the rescue efforts were stopped every 90 minutes to assess her condition.

The entire operation took more than three days from midnight on Saturday to Wednesday morning using 160 rescuers from 13 Italian regions.