December 14–18, 2024
On the afternoon of Saturday, December 14, an accident occurred during the exploration of an as-yet-unmapped section within the Bueno Fonteno Abyss cave.
In line with established procedures known to all Italian speleologists, one member of the group remained with the injured female speleologist while the other members—after approximately five hours of progress—exited the cave to report the incident by dialing the emergency number 112 to notify authorities of a speleological accident.
The rescue operation started at midnight on December 15, with a first rescue team from the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS) entering the cave. They progressed through the narrow and flooded passages to reach the section where the accident had occurred. The first-response team secured the injured individual and provided initial medical care.
Shortly after, a communications team entered the cave, deploying over 4,000 meters of telephone cable to establish communication between the site of the accident and the surface via specialized telephone handsets, developed by CNSAS, connected along the line. Subsequently, a medical team—also part of CNSAS—reached the injured speleologist, providing advanced medical assistance and continuously monitoring her condition until her evacuation from the cave.
Meanwhile, technical rigging teams worked along the 4,000 meters of narrow and unstable passages and over numerous shafts (the deepest being 50 meters) to prepare the route for the evacuation team responsible for transporting the injured individual. Each section of the cave was equipped with rope-based systems necessary for the transportation of the stretcher carrying the injured speleologist.
A base camp was set up at the Civil Protection headquarters in the nearby town of Fonteno. The Rescue Operations Directorate at the base camp maintained continuous communication with the medical personnel attending to the injured speleologist and the technical teams in operation inside the cave, thanks to a device developed by the CNSAS Speleological Technical Commission called “Link radio telefono”. This device facilitates a connection between the phones linked by the underground cable and a radio system covering the distance between the cave entrance and the base camp. Using this device, the Operations Directorate effectively coordinated all teams without interruption throughout the whole mission.
The cave’s tightest and most unstable sections, characterized by numerous narrow flooded passages, were managed by the CNSAS Passage Enlargement Commission, which eliminated the most problematic obstacles using picks and small explosive charges.
At 2:59 a.m. on December 18, the rescuers emerged from the cave with the stretcher carrying the injured speleologist. The operation concluded ahead of the estimated schedule, involving a total of 159 CNSAS technicians organized in six rescue teams coming from 12 Italian regions, including Piemonte, Lombardia, Liguria, Emilia Romagna, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Toscana, Campania, Lazio, Marche and Umbria.
The synergy between all teams was crucial for the success of the rescue mission, during which the injured individual was consistently monitored and assisted by six doctors and eight nurses from CNSAS who took turns during the rescue operations. Upon exiting the cave, the stretcher was transferred by the CNSAS teams to a location near the cave entrance, prepared for helicopter extraction using a hoist by the Regional Agency for Emergency and Urgency (AREU) 118 helicopter, capable of night operations. The injured woman, under the care of the onboard physician, was transported to Bergamo Hospital.
The rescue operation lasted a total of 75 hours without interruption. Special thanks are extended to AREU 118, the Prefecture of Bergamo, the Vigili del Fuoco, the Carabinieri, the Municipality of Fonteno, and the local Civil Protection for their collaboration and support.
