Post by Azurerana on Dec 7, 2005 20:20:02 GMT -5
First , a BIG THANKS to Sharon Faulkner for taking over the In The Media section of the NSS NEWs. .. In some ways, compiling info is a harder job than writing something from the get go....
Secondly.. and just for Sharon's and other peoples Info...she quite rightly says that the incident with the 4 deaths in the Utah mineshaft beats the 2004 deaths of three people in Minnesota. However if the NSS records went back only one more year to June 1993, they would report on the 6 simultaneous deaths by drowning (4 students and 2 counselors) in Cliff Cave, South St. Louis County, Missouri. This incident was reported in the ACA and was widely covered in the press/national news at the time.
The cave itself is not inherently dangerous; trips are still permitted in the cave under dry conditions. The group entered the cave (which channels rainwater via sinkholes) with sodden ground conditions, reputedly going around a closed road sign (the park (but not the cave) was partially underwater due to the 1993 Mississippi flood) , a sudden thunderstorm which caused the cave stream to rise suddenly, and poor decisionmaking by the leaders in dealing with this fact while underground.
One young man survived the ordeal by climbing on a rock shelf--although the incident was managed by the local fire department, much of the below ground search, rescue, and body recovery was conducted by local cavers (including my brother). Lawsuits by surviving family members against the county and the school resulted in judgements, including the culpabilty of the trip leaders (who were not organized cavers) determination that the water problem was a freak occurence, and left the cave gated, but still accessible by permit to responsible people.
This one incident doubled the number of dry cave fatalities in the last 100 years in Missouri.
Secondly.. and just for Sharon's and other peoples Info...she quite rightly says that the incident with the 4 deaths in the Utah mineshaft beats the 2004 deaths of three people in Minnesota. However if the NSS records went back only one more year to June 1993, they would report on the 6 simultaneous deaths by drowning (4 students and 2 counselors) in Cliff Cave, South St. Louis County, Missouri. This incident was reported in the ACA and was widely covered in the press/national news at the time.
The cave itself is not inherently dangerous; trips are still permitted in the cave under dry conditions. The group entered the cave (which channels rainwater via sinkholes) with sodden ground conditions, reputedly going around a closed road sign (the park (but not the cave) was partially underwater due to the 1993 Mississippi flood) , a sudden thunderstorm which caused the cave stream to rise suddenly, and poor decisionmaking by the leaders in dealing with this fact while underground.
One young man survived the ordeal by climbing on a rock shelf--although the incident was managed by the local fire department, much of the below ground search, rescue, and body recovery was conducted by local cavers (including my brother). Lawsuits by surviving family members against the county and the school resulted in judgements, including the culpabilty of the trip leaders (who were not organized cavers) determination that the water problem was a freak occurence, and left the cave gated, but still accessible by permit to responsible people.
This one incident doubled the number of dry cave fatalities in the last 100 years in Missouri.