14.06.2007
Around 5 a.m., the search operation for four
missing Czech cavers from Črnelsko brezno on the Ronbonske podi
above Kanin successfully concluded.
The Czech cavers descended into Črnelsko brezno, which with a depth of 1,198 metres
and a length of 11.5 kilometres is one of the deepest abysses in the country, on
Sunday evening and were supposed to return on Tuesday. Since the Czechs did not appear,
their friend, to whom they were supposed to report, notified the regional
centre in Nova Gorica.
Trapped 400 metres underground
The experienced
Czech cavers were found at 1:00 a.m., 400 metres underground. They had to wait until the early morning hours for the exit
from the abyss. A siphon in the cave had filled with water due to rain, holding them back. According to Aleš Stražar, head of the Slovenian Cave Rescue Service,
the Czech cavers waited trapped for three days for the passage to clear. Sixteen members of the cave rescue service from Postojna, Sežana
and Tolmin participated in the search operation. Four went into the cave, while the others waited on standby
in Bovec.
They descended under the leadership of Andrej Fratnik, a caver who in 1988
together with Italian colleagues became the first Slovenian on Slovenian territory
to exceed the magical 1,000-metre depth mark, precisely in Črnelsko brezno, and helped the missing Czechs to the surface.
The exhausted Czech cavers and the 16-member rescue team were transported to the valley by helicopter.
Source: www.rtvslo.si