German Caver Saved from Riesending-Schachthöhle after 12 Days
The injured German caver Johann Westhauser was recovered from the depths of the Bavarian Riesending-Schachthöhle cave after 12 days. Rescuers extricated him on Thursday shortly before noon. Westhauser stuck in the depth of almost one kilometer during the exploration of the Schachthöhle cave system. Being struck in the head with a loose rock, 52-year-old Westhauser suffered serious head injuries and was not able to get out on his own.
Riesending-Schachthöhle, a vertical cave in the Untersberg massif in the Berchtesgaden Alps on the border between Bavaria and Austria, was discovered in 1995. Its measured depth is 1148 meters and it is about 19,2 kilometers in length. It is currently the deepest and longest known cave in Germany.
Rescue operations right in the cave involved about 70 people who had to first build several camps. The rest of the support team including doctors were waiting at the surface. Two doctors got to the injured caver already during the rescue, which took 6 days since its preparation.
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