Injured speleologist describes dramatic 21-hour cave rescue in the Moravian Karst
A dramatic rescue operation unfolded this weekend in the Moravian Karst, where emergency teams spent more than twenty hours freeing an injured speleologist trapped deep underground near the village of Rudice. The man was brought to the surface on Sunday morning following one of the most complex cave rescues ever carried out in Czechia.
More than 80 people took part in the rescue operation to free the injured caver, including firefighters, speleologists, chemists, and blasting specialists. The effort lasted nearly 21 hours, beginning around midday on Saturday and continuing through the night into Sunday morning.
The injured man, Václav Adamec, is an experienced speleologist who was taking part in a routine cave survey when he misplaced his step and fractured his ankle. The accident happened at an estimated depth of 50 to 70 metres, roughly 250 to 300 metres from the cave entrance. Because of extremely narrow passages, his fellow cavers were unable to get him out on their own.
According to the head of the Czech Speleological Society, Jan Lenart, making those tight and difficult sections of the cave passable was the most demanding part of the entire operation:
“These are crawling passages in solid limestone, so the only way to widen these places enough to transport the injured person was to use small explosive charges. These are minor controlled blasts by which the passage is gradually — very slowly — widened so that there is no major disturbance to the rock.
“It is extremely careful and slow work, which in the case of a rescue nevertheless has to be done very quickly. That is, of course, very, very difficult, and it must be carried out by experienced people who are specially trained for it.”
Simply reaching the injured man through the cave system took rescuers nearly five hours. Once brought to the surface, Mr. Adamec was taken to Brno University Hospital, where he is currently recovering from surgery. Speaking to Czech Radio, he said that during the long hours underground, his main worry was for those coming to help him:
“The only thing I was truly afraid of was that someone else might get injured because of me. Especially with how the guys were working—they were moving fast, because the blasting itself isn’t simple, and they were rushing a lot. That’s something I would blame myself for for the rest of my life.
He also spoke about how the evacuation itself was organised:
“The emergency services were there, and each section had been planned in advance—how I would be moved, which way to go, head down, head back, forward, rotating as needed. The guys formed human bridges, essentially pulling me over themselves, passing me along like a bundle.
“I apologize for all the bruises I caused to them, which there will probably be quite a lot of, because they were dragging me in a harness over their heads. It was incredible to watch them at work. If I hadn’t been injured, I would most likely have taken part in the rescue myself.”
Asked whether he plans to return underground, Václav Adamec says he wants to do so as soon as possible, to make sure fear does not have time to take hold.
