53 rescuers work together to save man stuck in deep Italian cave

A caver whose leg had been trapped under a boulder at a depth of about 120 meters (394 feet) has been rescued from a cave in north-west Italy, emergency services said on Monday, adding that the effort involved 53 people in total.

Gianluca Semeraro/Reuters

1 June 2026 at 13:57:09

53 rescuers work together to save man stuck in deep Italian cave

A photo of the Italian flag courtesy of Unsplash via Wix.

Isaac Maffeis/Unsplash via Wix

MILAN - A caver whose leg had been trapped under a boulder at a depth of about 120 metres (394 feet) has been rescued from a cave in north-west Italy, emergency services said on Monday, adding that the effort involved 53 people in total.

The overnight rescue operation took place in the Grotta dei Cinghiali Volanti (Cave of the Flying Wild Boars), one of Italy's main caving areas, in the province of Cuneo about 120 kilometres south of Turin.

The caver was first assisted at a makeshift medical post set up inside the cave and was then taken outside to be transported to hospital by ambulance, the Alpine and Speleological Rescue Service said in a statement.

Medical staff judged him fit enough not to require an evacuation via stretcher, the service said, adding that the rescuers came from various parts of Italy.

He was described as an Italian national. Media reports said he was 20.

-Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Alvise Armellini and Alex Richardson/Reuters