A man doing a caving trip with his son in Beaufort-sur-Gervanne (Drôme) on Tuesday had to be rescued by firefighters.
While advancing in a dead-end cavity, the 50-year-old from Suze (Drôme) dropped a rock which prevented him from retracing his steps, says
Le Dauphiné Libéré
.
His 19-year-old son, on the other hand, was able to turn back, get out of the Sarrier cave, and notify the emergency services.
The father of the family remained blocked five hours before the firefighters arrived at his level after 300 m of progression, breaking the rock with sledgehammers to free him.
A one meter cavity
The hollow of the cave in which the man was stuck was only one meter long.
The victim was beginning to suffer from the cold, but rescuers were able to get him water and a survival blanket during his long wait.
A speleologist dies during a school outing in a cave in Isère
A man dies during a caving trip in the Pyrénées-Orientales
Valence
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Accident
Potholing
Miscellaneous facts
Cave