Four speleologists die in cave in Serbia

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Four speleologists die in cave in Serbia

Postby Adam Craig » Apr 30, 2007 7:38 am

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Four speleologists die in cave in Serbia

Postby RT » Apr 30, 2007 5:29 pm

"BELGRADE, Serbia: Four Belgrade University students died of suffocation early Sunday while exploring a cave in central Serbia, police said.

The four, in their early 20s, were found dead in the Ravanicka Cave, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of Belgrade, after apparently straying into a deep, unexplored section of the cave full of methane gas, police said."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/ ... Deaths.php
http://www.washtimes.com/upi/20070430-101133-9386
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Postby Wayne Harrison » Apr 30, 2007 6:08 pm

CUPRIJA, Serbia, April 30 : A Belgrade University lecturer and three students died while exploring a 5,000-foot deep cave at Cuprija, Serbia, media said.

The three students, ages 23 to 25, and their lecturer of the Belgrade geological and mining faculty, tried to dive through water-filled pockets of the Ravanicka cave at Cuprija, 90 miles southeast of Belgrade, the Serbian B92 radio reported. (see below)

Investigators said Monday the four, lecturer Sasa Colic, 35, and the three students, Bosko Madzarevic, Fulip Avramovic and Bojan Borokic, died of carbon-monoxide poisoning, Serbia's RTS radio-television said.

The four men were members of Serbia's association of paleontologists. They were part of a nine-member team exploring the cave during the weekend. The other five people were not involved in the accident.

http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=24162

ĆUPRIJA -- Rescuers recovered bodies of two speleologists that drowned early Sunday in a cave near Ravanica monastery.

Rescuers are still searching the cavern in a bid to locate the remaining two speleologists who also went missing.

The accident occurred at 1,500 meters underground, as the speleoloist were exploring the interior of the cave.

Two vicitms have been identified as Belgrade University students Boško Madžarević and Bojan Borokić, both members of the Speleologists Association "AS".

The Ravanica cave is said to consist of 10 channels filled with water. According to still unconfirmed information, speleologist drowned in the second.

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=04&dd=29&nav_category=121&nav_id=40974
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Postby Squirrel Girl » May 1, 2007 5:21 am

Belgrade - Four speleologists died on Sunday during a research of a cave in central Serbia, Beta news agency reported.

Mirjana Vrzina, the magistrate conducting the probe, said the bodies of the four were found some 1200 metres inside the Ravanica cave near the town of Cuprija, about 140 kilometers south of Belgrade.

Rescuers who pulled out the bodies said the most likely cause of the deaths was carbon monoxide released by a pump extracting water from a lake in the cave.

The four, all from Belgrade, had come along with five other cave explorers to do research in the cave.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News ... 51,00.html

Two speleologists die exploring cave
29 April 2007 | 14:43 | Source: Beta
?UPRIJA -- Rescuers recovered bodies of two speleologists that drowned early Sunday in a cave near Ravanica monastery.

Rescuers are still searching the cavern in a bid to locate the remaining two speleologists who also went missing.

The accident occurred at 1,500 meters underground, as the speleoloist were exploring the interior of the cave.

Two vicitms have been identified as Belgrade University students Boško Madžarevi? and Bojan Boroki?, both members of the Speleologists Association "As".

The Ravanica cave is said to consist of 10 channels filled with water. According to still unconfirmed information, speleologist drowned in the second.

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-art ... v_id=40974


Belgrade - Four speleologists have died in an accident in the deep Ravanica cave in central Serbia, local media reported Sunday.

Quoting sources from speleologist circles, reports said that two of the bodies were retrieved, while two were still missing in the cave located 120 kilometres southeast of Belgrade.

The accident occurred at a depth of 1,500 metres, when the speleologists attempted to dive through one of its 10 known siphons, or a branch of the cave partially submerged by water.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/euro ... _in_Serbia
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Postby Dane » May 1, 2007 6:05 am

This is very sad, and my thoughts go out to the families, friends, and loved ones of those that perished.

I am curious to find out definitively what happened.
Drowning and CO poisoning victims generally exhibit specific characteristics so I am somewhat surprised at the apparent confusion.

I do appreciate everyone's attempts to share news as this story unfolds. It is a stark reminder that there are myriad things that can wrong while exploring underground.
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Postby Squirrel Girl » May 1, 2007 6:49 am

Dane wrote:
Drowning and CO poisoning victims generally exhibit specific characteristics so I am somewhat surprised at the apparent confusion.
It may have been the media who were confused. Their confusion is common. Plus, of course, there is the effect of one person telling another person who tells another person who tells another person, and the final story is nothing like the original, and there is no "fault." So even, though, yeah, the cherry red skin ought to be an obvious symptom, etc, you add the reporting problems and I think that probably explains the problem. And maybe there was a translation issue as well.
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Postby Dane » May 1, 2007 7:15 am

Thanks SG - what about the original reports on methane gas poisoning? I could certainly see how throwing that into the mix could cause some translation and/or reporting problems.

If memory serves, (although it seldom does anymore!) it is not toxic in and of itself, but rather displaces the O2.

Of course, this is a dynamic situation for the people involved, and you are right, the few times I have had first hand knowledge of an event that was deemed newsworthy, many of the basic facts were misreported in each case.

Regardless of the cause, it is a terrible loss.
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Postby Squirrel Girl » May 1, 2007 8:39 am

Yeah, the methane report confused me. I wondered if there was some sort of leak from a petroleum tank/pipe or something. But CO makes some kind of sense. At first I thought maybe it was bad air in their tanks. That's "relatively common" as a cause of scuba death. I mean not common common, but when there's a death, it's not shockingly uncommon. And when there are multiple deaths, it sort of explains things. Happened in Mexico a couple of years ago.

:sadbanana:
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Postby Avram » May 17, 2007 4:15 pm

Hi,
I am Nemanja Avramovic, brother of Filip Avramovic, who died in that damn cave. He really loved hidrogeology :(
It's almost three weeks since this accident happened and we still don't know details of what was happening down there :(
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Postby Wayne Harrison » May 17, 2007 5:35 pm

Nemanja,

First, I think I speak for everyone here in sending your our heartfelt sympathy for you, your brother and the others who died to further the science of speleology. Many of us here have lost friends in caves.

Please know that those of us here care very much about speleology and about those who lose their lives pursuing their passion.

When a caver dies, it diminishes us all.
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Postby adleedy » May 17, 2007 5:39 pm

Wayne Harrison wrote:Nemanja,

First, I think I speak for everyone here in sending your our heartfelt sympathy for you, your brother and the others who died to further the science of speleology. Many of us here have lost friends in caves.

Please know that those of us here care very much about speleology and about those who lose their lives pursuing their passion.

When a caver dies, it diminishes us all.


Yes it does, Its like losing a friend. This is very said and my best wishes go out to the family
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Postby Squirrel Girl » May 17, 2007 9:57 pm

Avram wrote:Hi,
I am Nemanja Avramovic, brother of Filip Avramovic, who died in that damn cave. He really loved hidrogeology :(
It's almost three weeks since this accident happened and we still don't know details of what was happening down there :(
Oh, dear, Nemanja. On the one hand, welcome to Cavechat. But it's such a shame it's under these circumstances.

We're very sorry about the loss of your brother, and the others as well. On the one hand, we can be aloof and scientific about studying accidents. But it's so very heart rending to recognizing the cost to the families when someone doesn't come back. I wish you a big virtual hug for sadness of it all. I have lost several friends cave diving, and it's very tough.

I wish we could help you more, but we are guessing from news reports as to what happened. However, if there's anything we can do in more general terms, please know we'd like to help.
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Postby Dane » May 17, 2007 10:05 pm

My condolences to you and your family, as well as others who were lost and their loved ones.

Although it may seem a small thing now, your bother and his comrades will be remembered for their bravery and dedication.

I hope that, along with the fact that he was doing something he loved so dearly, will bring some comfort to you all.
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Postby Avram » May 18, 2007 5:34 am

Thank you all. The only "good" thing (if anything can be good when your brother dies) is that he died doing what he liked, exploring underground waters, and he died with his best friends. They were hanging out together all day long for the past several years and they died together trying to help each other.

The strange thing is that nobody officially came to the families to tell what happened. Remaining 5 men from their team never showed up in front of us.
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Postby Squirrel Girl » May 18, 2007 8:54 am

Yes, Nemanja, that does sound strange. But I will say from first hand experience, that sometimes things happen and you may not know why. First off, they may all be suffering from their own grief, and they may do the "wrong" thing inadvertantly.

Second off. When someone dies, there can be the threat of civil or criminal penalties. At least here in the US there can be. Authorities are brought in to investigate. People get scared that they will be thrown in jail for murdering someone. That being added in to the normal grief people feel makes people act in strange ways.

In your case so many people died. That is something I fortunately have never had to encounter.

I was on a big caving expedition and one of our team members died while diving. One of his best buddies felt the expedition should end to honor him. A year or two later, he realized he was wrong, and it was correct to keep on with the exploration. People don't always do the "right" thing when they are feeling grief. Besides, what is "right" and "wrong"?

Nevertheless. Probably everyone understands that you are devestated. Not knowing the facts can only be very frustrating and we hope that gets solved quickly. Maybe we can be a give some comfort to you if those others are unable to right now.
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