Five people have been trapped in a cave in central Slovenia since Saturday after heavy rains caused flooding, rescue workers have said.
A family of three adults with two guides had on Saturday morning begun a tourist visit to the Krizna Jama (Cross Cave), 50km south of the capital, Ljubljana.
The group became trapped on a dry platform after heavy rain caused a steep rise in the water levels within the cave, known for its emerald green underground lakes.
A rescue operation was launched after they failed to emerge as scheduled.
Cave divers located them late on Saturday 2km from the entrance to the 8km long cave.
“All five are in stable condition,” said civil protection authorities, adding that rescue teams had delivered them overnight a tent, warm clothes, food and medicines.
“If the water level drops, the rescue could be carried out swiftly,” said the head of the cave rescue team, Walter Zakrajsek, adding that if the cave tunnels remained flooded, teams of cave divers would be making the three-hour trip to resupply them every 12 hours.
Igor Benko, the head of Slovenia’s speleological association, told the country’s official STA news agency that subterranean water levels were expected to start falling soon but it might take a few days for the passage to be safe again.
Thiry-five cave rescuers and eight divers from all over Slovenia were involved in the rescue operation, assisted by 11 firefighters and members of the civil protection force, authorities said.
Slovenia is known for its more than 14,000 caves, some of which can be visited by large groups of tourists travelling on underground trains. Others, like the Krizna cave, can be visited only by small groups using boats.
Krizna Jama is the fourth most biodiverse known cave ecosystem in the world.
Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
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