Experienced cave divers for deep sea recoveries continue the rescue operation for missing people who were on board a sailboat that sank off Porticello, near Palermo, Sicily, Italy, 19 August 2024. At least one person died, six remain missing and 15 passengers were rescued, after a 56-meter-long luxury sailboat, the Bayesian, with 22 people on board, sank at dawn on 19 August off Porticello, near Palermo, after a tornado hit the area. EPA/IGOR PETYX
The overnight rescue operation took place in the Grotta dei Cinghiali Volanti (Cave of the Flying Wild Boars), one of Italy’s main caving areas, in the province of Cuneo about 120 kilometres south of Turin.
The caver was first assisted at a makeshift medical post set up inside the cave and was then taken outside to be transported to hospital by ambulance, the Alpine and Speleological Rescue Service said in a statement.
Medical staff judged him fit enough not to require an evacuation via stretcher, the service said, adding that the rescuers came from various parts of Italy.
He was described as an Italian national. Media reports said he was 20.
(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Alvise Armellini and Alex Richardson)