Eric Establie, a French cave diver who left on a difficult exporation dive Sunday morning has not returned. The cave (Dragonnière de Gaud near Labastide de Virac, in the Ardèche region, France) is a difficult cave, with depth requiring decompressions, a yo-yo profile, muddy walls and floors that can degrade visibility, writes Yvonne Droms on Cavechat.org

An attempt to find Eric Establie, made on Sunday evening to the -53 m level (a fixed line leads to this decompression station), was unsuccessful. He is believed trapped in an air-filled passage behind a gravel landslide 780 metres from the cave entrance. Diggers are making their way down through a fissure they hope will lead to the passage.

Conditions are said to be very limited, with visibility less than a foot.
A second cave is being explored to see if it links to Dragonniere.

Rescuers are working on the assumption Establie is alive. They have predicted he could survive for up to three weeks. But although he has water available, the water temperature is around 15C,

Eric Establie was planning on pursuing exploration at the current end, 1040 meters inside the cave, at -42 m depth, but behind two low spots at -87 and -70 meters. His dive was to last 6 hours. He carried two rebreathers, two scooters, and five air tanks, plus 450 meters of dive line.

â—„ Previous | Image of | Next â–º

-