Safety review after cave rescue

A safety review is under way after 12 people from Rochdale and Oldham were rescued from a flooding cave “with a minute to spare.”

National charity The Prince’s Trust is examining why two experienced instructors took teenagers underground during heavy rain — despite Met Office warnings.

Eight 16 to 19-year-olds and four adults became trapped in Lower Long Churn Caves, near Ingleton, on Wednesday 10 August. They had to be rescued by 35 members of the Cave Rescue Organisation (CRO) and other volunteers.

The trip was arranged in conjunction with Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale and outdoor pursuits company Rough Edges.

They have been fiercely criticised by CRO duty controller Dave Gallivan, who said the group had a lucky escape and evacuated the cave with a minute to spare.

There were fears that, had the water continued to rise, their lives would have been in danger.

Mr Gallivan added: “It was a massive error of judgment to go into this caving system, considering the weather. If we hadn’t got the group out at that moment, we could have all been trapped inside until the following afternoon.

“I realised we had 50 minutes to do the operation, and on 49 minutes the water levels increased again. We had to leave all our equipment and evacuate the cave.

“I was surprised to find two experienced instructors in there. We had a word with them. They were aware they had made a mistake.”

The cavers had already faced an agonising five-hour wait 65ft underground as they waited for water levels to subside before the rescue could begin — while anxious parents waited near by.

Mr Gallivan described the operation as difficult‚ and warned cavers not to venture underground in bad weather. The water reached a height of 10ft at its peak. It was flowing so quickly that people were being knocked off their feet.

In 2007, two experienced cavers — a 33-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman — drowned after becoming trapped in Lower Long Churn.

A Prince’s Trust spokesman said: “The health and safety of our young people is paramount in all of our programmes and we work with trained professionals to run our outdoor activities. We are pleased that all of the young people returned safe and well but we are reviewing this situation to ensure every aspect of the planning and delivery of the programme meets with the very high standards we demand.”

Chris Tate, from Yorkshire Subterranean Society, said the instructors were “ill-advised” to take the group down and encouraged people to join clubs and get involved in club caving in order to learn from professionals who have experienced the cave before.