Large-scale rescue for wife wedged in a cave

An overweight woman on an underground cave tour slipped and became wedged in a cranny, trapping her and 23 others for 12 hours.

The woman fell in the "Tunnel of Love" in Cango Caves, South Africa, and had to be greased with liquid paraffin before being freed by pulley.

"She was really quite a large woman," said Hein Gerstner, the manager of the cave near Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape. "She was forewarned at the ticket office that she might have difficulty, but she and her husband insisted she should take part in the adventure."

The woman, who has not been named, fell in a "splits position" and couldn't get back up. "We used liquid paraffin to grease the surface area and a pulley to lift her," Mr Gerstner said.
Those trapped behind her were given blankets, water, chocolate and buckets for use during the rescue effort, which involved helicopters and ambulances at a reported cost of about £3,000.

He told Johannesburg's Independent newspaper that the tour guide also told the woman that she should reconsider before she reached the tunnels. "The woman was extremely offended. We will have to be a lot more stringent with people," he said.

Daily Telegraph

Stupid Cow!