A massive rescue operation is underway in southern Turkey to save an American explorer trapped 3,400 feet from the entrance of the Morca Cave outside the district of Anamur.
Mark Dickey, the 40-year-old American caver, started experiencing gastrointestinal bleeding while with an expedition team in the cave, one of the deepest in Turkey. An international team is planning to move Dickey out of the cave via a stretcher.
Read live updates on the rescue mission:
Rescue Could Take Days
Due to many difficult factors, including Dickey’s condition, the depth at which he fell ill and the cave’s narrowness, the rescue could take several days.
“It’s still expected to take quite a few days to get him all the way out of the cave, as it’s such a difficult and technical cave and he is so far deep in it right now,” Gretchen Baker of the National Cave Rescue Commission told NBC News.
CBS reported that parts of the cave were being widened to accommodate a stretcher.
Massive Team Helping With Rescue
According to Turkey’s caving federation, more than 150 people are aiding the rescue mission. The team includes individuals from Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia and Italy.