Rescue effort underway to save Swiss students trapped in cave

Rescuers have managed to reduce the water level but heavy rains are hampering their work Keystone

Rescuers in France are trying to save seven Swiss students and their guide, who have been trapped by flooding in a cave in the Doubs region near the Swiss border. No contact has been made with them since Wednesday night.

Some 300 rescuers are working to free the group, which was taken by surprise when a flash flood sealed off the entrance to the cave. They entered the “Bief Paroux” cave near Goumois on the Swiss border at around 1900 local time on Wednesday evening.

The swissinfo correspondent at the scene, Ramsey Zarifeh, said the families of the missing persons had arrived in Goumois, and were following the rescue operations.

He said rescue workers, who include police, ambulance workers and divers, had made some progress, but were still battling frantically to pump water out of the cave.

Explosives had been used to widen the entrance to the cave to improve access to the grotto but the water had been too murky and fast flowing for divers to go in, he added.

A spokesman for the local prefecture, Hervé Tonnaire, said: “We’re concerned because we have no contact with the [students]. It is important now to stop the water from rising… to get the divers in… and to locate air pockets.”

He said those trapped had been carrying only a small quantity of supplies, which were not expected to last long.

Thomas Arbenz, of the Swiss Cave Research Association, said the missing cavers had ignored a whole host a warning signs. He told swissinfo the cave was known to be prone to flash flooding, that water levels in the area were high and that bad weather had been forecast.

“All these things should be enough for an experienced caver to say ‘Ok, I don’t go’. But they ignored the signs and went nevertheless,” explained Arbenz.

With rescue efforts being hampered by further rainfall and rising water levels in the “Bief Paroux” cave, Arbenz said the chances of finding the students and their guide alive were slim.

“It’s possible they may have found an air pocket and that’s the only hope they have. Without an air pocket, they would have died hours ago,” he warned.

A French cave expert, Jean-Jacques Compagnon, also feared the worst. He said even if the cavers had found some air, they were probably in the water and were liable to die of hypothermia.

“It is difficult to withstand the cold for more than 10 or 12 hours”, said Compagnon. “Their survival will depend on the experience of the experts among them and the group’s morale.”

The seven students – four men and three women – are aged between 25 and 35 and are from the Zurich region. The guide works for the Altamira company, based in Bettingen in canton Basel City.

swissinfo with agencies