The injured Italian speleologist Ottavia Piana is freed after 75 hours of rescue

Spelunker Ottavia Piana has been airlifted to hospital after a painstaking rescue in the depths of a cave system in the Bergamo area of ​​northern Italy.

Piana, 32, had been exploring an unexplored area of ​​the Abisso Bueno Fonteno cave on Saturday afternoon when a rock gave way under his feet and he fell 5 to 6 meters (16 to 19 feet), suffering injuries to his vertebrae, the ribs, face and knee. .

More than 150 volunteers, led by Italy’s Alpine and Cave Rescue Corps, took part in the operation, and their stretcher was removed at around 03:00 (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

Piana is an experienced caver and this was the second time in 17 months she was rescued from the cave system.

“She’s tired, exhausted and in pain… We’ve done it,” said Giorgio Pannuzzo, a rescue volunteer who was with her at the time of Saturday’s accident.

“There was an icy wind right at the entrance (of the cave) and if we had stopped she would have suffered even more from the cold. So we were in a hurry,” he told Italian media.

Piana was participating in a project to map a previously unknown area of ​​the Abisso Bueno Fonteno cave system when he fell.

The area between Lake Iseo and Lake Endine comprises a network of caves, tunnels and underground galleries, most of which have never been explored.

Rescuers spoke of a race against time to get her out due to her injuries. Dozens of volunteers took turns carrying his stretcher and clearing the many obstacles that stood in his way.

They had to go through narrow tunnels and sometimes use small explosive charges to get her out.

The alpine rescue service CNSAS said 159 volunteers from 13 Italian regions took part in the operation. “The injured woman was constantly monitored and assisted by a total of six doctors and eight nurses,” he said. “The rescue operation continued uninterruptedly for 75 hours.”

During the operation, Piana told his doctors that he never wanted to set foot in the cave again.