ISTANBUL: Turkish and international cave rescue experts are working to save an American speleologist trapped at a depth of more than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) in a cave in southern Turkiye after he became ill.
Mark Dickey, 40, became sick during an international expedition in Morca cave in southern Turkiye’s Taurus Mountains, within the Mersin province, according to the European Cave Rescue Association. He has gastrointestinal bleeding and has been unable to leave the cave on his own, the association said on its website.
It described Dickey as “a highly trained caver and a cave rescuer himself” who is well known for his participation in many international expeditions. He is secretary of the association’s medical committee.
Dickey was on an expedition mapping the 1,276-meter (4,186-feet) deep Morca cave system for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association (ASPEG) before becoming sick at around 1,000 meters deep, according to Yusuf Ogrenecek of the Speleological Federation of Turkiye.
Turkish disaster relief agency AFAD and rescue team UMKE are working with Turkish and international cavers on a plan to hoist Dickey out of the cave system, the rescue association said.
Ogrenecek of the Speleological Federation of Turkiye told The Associated Press that Dickey’s condition has stabilized, and that he is in “good spirits.”
“Mark’s condition continues to improve,” the federation tweeted. “Doctors will decide whether it is possible for him to leave without a stretcher.”
The rescue efforts are made up of more than 170 people, including doctors, paramedics who are tending to Dickey and experienced cavers, Ogrenecek said, adding that the rescue operation could take up to two to three weeks. But it could take shorter depending on the situation.
A team of rescuers from Italy’s National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Team will be flying to Turkiye on Thursday night. A total of around 50 rescuers will be at the entrance of the cave early Friday ready to participate in the operation directed by Turkish authorities.
Marton Kovacs of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service said that the cave is being prepared for his safe extraction. Narrow passages are being widened to accommodate a stretcher, and the danger of falling rocks is also being addressed.
The rescue teams, which are from Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Croatia and Poland, hope that the extraction can begin on Saturday or Sunday. Kovacs said that lifting Dickey will likely take several days, and that several bivouac points are being prepared along the way so that Dickey and rescue teams can rest.
The cave has been divided into several sections, with each country’s rescue team being responsible for one section.
The Hungarian Cave Rescue Service, made up of volunteer rescuers, was the first to arrive at Dickey’s location and provided emergency blood transfusions to stabilize his condition. An additional Hungarian team of 15-20 rescuers will eave Hungary on Thursday evening on a military plane provided by the government and arrive at the rescue site on Friday morning, Kovacs said.
Six mountain rescuers, including two medics, have left for Antalya to help in the rescue operation, Jerzy Siodlak, the head of Poland’s mountain rescue service, GOPR, said Wednesday on Radio RMF24.
Thirteen other rescuers from southern Poland are also ready to join the rescue operation, GOPR authorities said. Siodlak noted the operation will be a challenging one given the condition of the American and the need to keep him medically fit for the rescue operation in difficult conditions.
He also stressed the need to provide the rescuers with light and communication possibilities at the depth the American is at.
Rescue efforts underway for American caver who fell ill while exploring cave in Turkiye
https://arab.news/9vwk4
Rescue efforts underway for American caver who fell ill while exploring cave in Turkiye
- Mark Dickey, 40, became sick during an international expedition in Morca cave in southern Turkiye’s Taurus Mountains
- Dickey was on an expedition mapping the 1,276-meter deep Morca cave system for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association before becoming sick at around 1,000 meters deep
Yemen’s Houthi rebels acknowledge attacking a US destroyer that shot down missile in the Red Sea
- The USS Mason has been in the Red Sea and the wider region as part of a US-led coalition trying to prevent Houthi attacks on shipping
The latest statement from the Houthis comes as their attacks on shipping, which have disrupted trade through a vital corridor leading onto the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, have slowed in recent weeks. Though the rebels have not acknowledged the slowdown, the US military has suggested its airstrikes and interceptions of Houthi fire have disrupted their assaults and chewed into their weapon stockpiles.
Recently, the Houthis have been claiming days-old attacks.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the rebels targeted the USS Mason with missiles and launched an attack on a ship he identified as the Destiny. Multiple vessels have that name in shipping registries.
The Mason, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, has been in the Red Sea and the wider region as part of a US-led coalition trying to prevent Houthi attacks on shipping. On Monday night, the Mason “successfully engaged and destroyed one inbound anti-ship ballistic missile launched by (the) Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen over the Red Sea,” the US military’s Central Command said.
The US Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the claimed attack on the Destiny.
The Houthis say their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians there, according to local health officials. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the US Maritime Administration. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat.
Man killed by Israel troops after march marking 1948 ‘Nakba’
“A young man was killed by occupation bullets at the northern entrance of the city of Al-Bireh,” an Israeli checkpoint at the outskirts of Ramallah, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said the man killed was 20-year-old Ayser Muhammad Safi, a student at Birzeit University, reporting that he was shot in the neck during a confrontation between a group of young men and Israeli forces.
Witnesses on site told AFP they had seen a group of male students from Birzeit University gather a short distance from the Al-Bireh entrance, where they were preparing to begin protesting when Israeli troops moved in.
During the confrontation, Israeli forces fired some kind of gas and sound grenades at the protesters, Wafa reported.
After the confrontation, AFP saw the body of a young man, his head in bloody bandages and his body wrapped in a blue sheet, being carried from a Ramallah hospital to the nearby morgue, as dozens of people crowded around.
Amid chants of “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest), many women in tears screamed out as his body passed by, and one young woman fainted.
Birzeit University immediately released a picture of the young man against the backdrop of a Palestinian flag and a message saying his family, the university administration, staff and students “mourn with great pride and honor its martyr” Safi, a student at the physical education department.
Wednesday’s clash happened shortly after the annual march in Ramallah commemorating the 76th anniversary of what Palestinians consider the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, when around 760,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes during the war that led to Israel’s creation.
Against the backdrop of the ongoing war raging in Gaza, Israel has carried out near daily raids in the West Bank in what it says is a bid to thwart militant groups.
At least 499 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the territory since October 7, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.
According to the Shin Bet internal security agency, at least 20 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks over the same period.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to about 490,000 Israeli settlers who live in communities considered illegal under international law.
Erdogan says Israel will ‘set sights’ on Turkiye if Hamas defeated
- Turkish leader on Monday said more than 1,000 members of Hamas were being treated in Turkish hospitals
Erdogan, a vocal critic of Israel’s war in the Palestinian territory following Hamas’s attack on October 7, has often expressed support for the Palestinian group as defenders of their homeland.
Hamas is classed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, among others.
“Do not think that Israel will stop in Gaza,” Erdogan told his party lawmakers in the parliament in the capital Ankara.
“Unless it’s stopped... this rogue and terrorist state will set its sights on Anatolia sooner or later,” he said, referring to the large Turkish peninsula also called Asia Minor that comprises more than half of Turkiye’s territory.
“We will continue to stand by Hamas, which fights for the independence of its own land and which defends Anatolia,” added Erdogan.
The Turkish leader on Monday said more than 1,000 members of Hamas were being treated in Turkish hospitals amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
The October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized some 250 hostages, 128 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 36 the military says are dead.
Israel’s bombardment and offensive in Gaza have killed more than 35,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
EU urges Israel to end Rafah military operation ‘immediately’
- EU statement: ‘Further disrupting the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and is leading to more internal displacement, exposure to famine and human suffering’
BRUSSELS: The European Union on Wednesday urged Israel to end its military operation in Gaza’s Rafah “immediately,” warning that failure to do so would undermine ties with the bloc.
“Should Israel continue its military operation in Rafah, it would inevitably put a heavy strain on the EU’s relationship with Israel,” said the statement issued in the EU’s name by its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
“The European Union urges Israel to end its military operation in Rafah immediately,” the statement said, warning it was “further disrupting the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and is leading to more internal displacement, exposure to famine and human suffering.”
The bloc — the main aid donor for the Palestinian territories and Israel’s biggest trading partner — said more than a million people in and around Rafah had been ordered by Israel to flee the area to other zones the UN says cannot be considered safe.
“While the EU recognizes Israel’s right to defend itself, Israel must do so in line with International Humanitarian Law and provide safety to civilians,” it said.
The law requires Israel to allow in humanitarian aid, the statement stressed.
The EU also condemned a Hamas attack on the Kerem Shalom border crossing which blocked humanitarian relief supplies.
“We call on all parties to redouble their efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas,” it said.
Israel’s military operations in Gaza were launched in retaliation for Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israeli which killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 250 hostages taken, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s military has conducted a relentless bombardment from the air and a ground offensive inside Gaza that has killed more than 35,000, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Israel’s main allies, the United States and the EU, as well as the United Nations, have all warned Israel against a major operation in Rafah given that it would add to the civilian toll.
Kuwait’s emir calls on new government to pursue reforms
RIYADH: Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Wednesday met with the new prime minister and his government.
According to the Kuwait News Agency, Sheikh Mishal said: “We are in a new phase of reforms and serious actions must be taken.”
He added that ministers should “accelerate the implementation of long-awaited strategic development projects, address needed files and work on the infrastructure projects, develop healthcare and the educational system, and take into account transparency and to preserve public funds.”
Sheikh Mishal appointed Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as prime minister in April, and dissolved parliament last Friday in a televised speech.
He urged ministers to ensure that Kuwait has a strong and sustainable economy by investing in human capital and promoting innovation and scientific research.
