Man rescued after being trapped in Sardinian cave for 26 hours

Image source, GettyImage caption, The town of Urzulei on the Italian island of Sardinia, where the speleologist was exploring a cave

A man has been rescued from a cave in Sardinia, Italy, after being trapped about 32ft (10 metres) underground for about 26 hours following a rockfall.

The 31-year-old, Luca Olmetto, was inside Gorropeddu cave at Urzulei, a town on the Italian island, when he became stuck on Sunday, according to ANSA, a local news agency.

Following a major rescue operation, involving more than 100 emergency personnel working meticulously over 24 hours, Olmetto was found alive and freed on Monday afternoon, the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps said.

Olmetto, who studies caves, was then airlifted to hospital for further medical checks and treatment, local media said.

He had been exploring the cave, which is situated along a mountain range in central-eastern Sardinia, when rock suddenly collapsed on Sunday afternoon.

A rescue operation then followed, led by the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps and the local fire department.

It was a "particularly complex operation", the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps said in a statement shared on social media along with pictures of the team working in what they described as "extremely confined" spaces.

After gently and manually removing debris to access the cavity of the cave, the man was brought to the surface, the statement said.

The speleologist was then stabilised and transferred by helicopter to the hospital, it said.

In a post shared on social media, the council of Codrongianos, a town in north-west Sardinia where Olmetto is from, said: "After hours of great anxiety, the news that the entire Codrongianos was waiting for has finally arrived: Luca is out of the cave!

"It has been a difficult hour, during which the entire community has been on edge following the rescue operations," the post continued.

The council of Codrongianos thanked the rescuers "who worked tirelessly to reach him".

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