An American cave explorer trapped more than 1,000 meters underground in a cave in southern Turkey was videotaped saying he was awake and conscious after rescuers contacted him with medical supplies.
Mark Dickey, 40, was carrying out international exploration in the Morca cave in the Taurus mountains in Mersin province when he started suffering from bleeding in the digestive tract when he reached a depth of 1,040 meters. More than 150 rescuers from Türkiye and other countries have attempted to save him.
“Hi, I’m Mark Dickey from almost a thousand meters deep,” Dickey said in the message, wearing a red padded jacket and wearing a headlamp. “As you can see, I’m awake, I’m conscious, I’m talking. But my insides haven’t healed, so I’m going to need a lot of help to get out of here,” he said.
US cave explorer Mark Dickey speaks to the camera while standing at a camp in Morca Cave in the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey. (Photo: via AFP)
Dickey said he was “almost in a dangerous situation” when a team contacted him with medical equipment and survival equipment. He also thanked the Turkish government and rescue teams, saying this was “a great opportunity to show how well the international community can work together.”
Footage from the operation shows rescuers setting up shelter in the cavity where he was found and chatting with Dickey. Other teams from Turkey and other countries set up camp outside the country’s third-deepest cave.
Tulga Sener, head of the SAR Team’s medical unit, told Reuters that Dickey’s health condition was stable and his vital signs were normal, adding that three doctors would treat him on his journey.
The rescue operation was divided into seven parts, each assigned to a team from a different country, due to the complexity of the operation, according to Recep Salci, head of search and rescue at Turkey’s disaster management authority (AFAD).
“Of course this is not a cave that can be reached on foot,” Salci said. “It takes a cave explorer 12 hours to descend and 16 hours to climb,” he said.
The operation to remove Dickey could take days, and explosives would be needed to expand some of the tight spaces for safe passage, he added. (ah/ft)