Caver dies in the Yorkshire Dales despite mass rescue effort

He was one of three exploring and excavating a ‘new’ cave at Fountain's Fell, between Horton in Ribblesdale and Kettlewell, but fell around six feet down a pitch deep within the cave, sustaining a suspected broken leg at around lunch time on Saturday.

His companions immediately left the cave to seek help but it was a massive operation to get to the casualty due to it not being a mapped site and the passages not being wide enough to get a casualty out.

The Cave Rescue Organisation said that as well as their own members, there were six other rescue teams and experts called upon.

They worked to rig the cave while a doctor cared for the casualty and packed him in preparation for being brought out of the cave.

A spokesperson said: "Unfortunately, due to the nature of his injuries, and the extended time needed to create a navigable way out, the casualty succumbed to his injuries and died just prior to the extrication beginning."

The other teams involved included Upper Wharfedale FRA, Swaledale MRT, Calder Valley SRT, Cumbria Mines Rescue (COMRU), members from the Cavers List as well as members from Bradford Pothole Club and the Yorkshire Spelio Society.

In total, the incident actively involved 94 volunteers for over 17 and a half hours - a total of 1,626 man hours. This included nearly 70 personnel on site below and above ground as well as volunteers providing food and drink, coordinating resources, both human and equipment, and communications.

The organisation added: "We would also like to extend our thanks to Yorkshire Ambulance Service and YAS HART team and to the Marirtime and Coastguard Agency who remained in close touch in readiness to provide immediate air evacuation in the event of a successful extrication, which sadly was not to be."