19 Rescued From Flooded Kentucky Cave

Rising water blocked entrance
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 26, 2016 5:11 PM CDT
Updated May 26, 2016 8:54 PM CDT
19 People Trapped in Kentucky Cave
People exit Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky.   (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP)

Flash flooding threatened to trap a group of college students inside a Kentucky cave Thursday, but they navigated through neck-deep water to safety, the AP reports. The 19 people who escaped had to clutch onto a rope to handle the swift currents of floodwaters near the entrance of Hidden River Cave. The group that spent more than six hours inside the cave included Clemson University students on a field trip, four tour guides, and two police officers who got trapped when they tried to rescue the group.

The cavers, accompanied by a couple of experienced guides, were unaware of the rising waters threatening to block the cave's entrance. Heavy rains hit the area hours after the group ventured inside, said David Foster, executive director of the American Cave Museum at Horse Cave. Foster said his rescue team ventured about a mile into the cave, where they found the group in a "high and dry" area. (More Kentucky stories.)

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