Missing Cavers Found Alive

Oct 14, 07:19 PM

Current Headlines: Rescuers worked their way thousands of feet into a narrow cave Sunday before finding three missing University of Texas students alive.

Emergency workers found the students -- two women and a man -- waiting for them after tracking them for hours, following a trail of discarded water bottles and communicating with the surface through 5,000 feet of cable.

Navigating the length of the 12,000-square-foot Airman's Cave, which takes about 12 hours round trip, is considered a difficult task even for experienced cavers, News 8 in Austin, Texas, reported. The cave is unaltered, unlike tourist caves that have lighting and marked paths.

But the three cavers had little caving experience, sparking fears for their safety when they did not make contact with friends at midnight Saturday as scheduled, News 8 said. They were reported missing at 5 a.m.