Accident at the “BETE” part of the Mátyás-hegyi-cave
On the 13th of August, 2022, a small group took part in am adventure tour in in the Mátyás-hegyi-cave in Budapest. The company made an approximately 2.5-hour long trip in a natural cave (not in a show cave built with concrete paths) with professional guidance of a cave tour guide.
In this part of the cave, you have to crawl and climb, in many places through narrower passages, in other places through small squeezes or on ledges. No caving experiences are required to participate in the tour.
Shortly after midday, at one of the climb, at the so-called "BETE leap-crossing" (BETE átlépő), a 28-year-old woman slipped and fell on her back. She complained that her pelvis was hurting. Due to the seriousness of the accident and the increasing pain, the tour guide requested the help of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service (BMSz).
The cave rescue service sent an alert (by SMS) to its members at 12:40 p.m. The cave rescuers in and around Budapest were summoned at the scene.
The Hungarian Cave Rescue Service arrived at the scene with sufficient rescue equipment. A group of doctors was the first to go down to the cave to treat the injured.
By that time, the injured person was already given first aid under the guidance of the tour guide: she was secured and protected against cold with insulation blankets (the temperature in the cave is 12 degrees Celsius).
Ankle injury near Rózsika spring
During the afternoon of July 9, 2022, a hiker slipped on the yellow trail (near Solymár) and fell about 15m on a sloped surface, finally being stopped by a ledge about 1 meter above the creek.
The National Ambulance Service started the rescue at about 2PM. After stabilizing the injured right ankle, they asked for help in transporting the patient.
The Hungarian Cave Rescue Service approached the patient with 10 rescuers, alongside the firefighter units 4 person crew.
The patient was placed in a special mountain rescue stretcher and was transported using the aid of alpine rigging techniques.
The patient was transferred to the Hospital at 16:25 in good condition. We wish for a fast recovery!
Photo: Péter Adamkó, Károly Filei
Sickness on top of "Hárs-hegy" (Linden hill)
On 26th of May 2022 at 15:10, the Dispatch Control Center of the National Ambulance Service requested help from the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service. At the "Kaán Károly" Lookout at the top of "Hárs Hegy" above "Szépjuhászné", a popular hiking spot on the outskirts of Budapest, a 14-year-old girl became ill during a class excursion, and was unable to continue the hike or even to get down from the mountain on her own.
The incident did not happen in a cave, but as it turns out, we can be called in to help quickly on the surface as well. We knew the location well (the famous "Bátori cave" opens here), so we knew that it was accessible by an all-terrain vehicle.
The BMSz all-terrain vehicle unit went to the scene, picked up and escorted the National Ambulance Service doctor and nurse to the casualty. The young lady was given an IV fluid on the spot and was then transported by all-terrain vehicle to the ambulance waiting at the foot of the hill.
We wish you a speedy recovery!
Photo by András Jenő Nagy
The rescue of the cave diving accident at Jósvafő has been completed
The longest rescue operation in the history of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service ended on at around 2 p.m on Sunday, the 10th of April 2022. After 7 days of search and rescue, the body of a cave diver who died on the 3rd of April during an exploratory dive was brought to the surface.
The body of the missing diver was found on Tuesday, at a considerable distance, about 250 meters, from the start of the dive, the entrance to the “Reménytelen” (Hopeless) Sump, at a depth of about 30 meters. The cause of the accident seems to be a collapse of the passage, the traces of which were discovered by the cave divers diving the next day, at a depth of -48 meters at the end of the known passage.
The terminal zone of the passage was filled up with muddy sediment and the diving guide rope was stuck beneath it. The possible signs indicating the collapse are being examined by the experts of the Aggtelek National Park by analysing the data of the karst water level registering well and the water flow meter at the “Nagy-Tohonya” spring.
Cave diver accident in the Kossuth cave near Josvafő
On Sunday, 3rd of April 3 2022, members of a cave diving group from the capital conducted exploratory dives in the Kossuth Cave near Jósvafő. An accident happened during their dive: one of the cave diver did not return by the prescribed time to the starting point located in the Apáink-terme (Our Father’s room) part of the cave. The companions of the divers, who were provided the safety of the diver set off immediately after, but were not able to find the trail of the safety guided rope in the known passages. The visibility in the underwater parts of the cave at that time was next to zero.
After the alert of the cave rescue teams, the Gömör-Tornai Territorial Unit of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service arrived at the scene in the afternoon, with the assistance of the North Hungarian Association of Cave Rescuers, the Bakonyi Cave Rescue Service and the Speleo Roznava (SK) In collaboration with BAZ County Specialists of the Disaster Management organization, the Neptune Diving Club and the cave divers of the Amphora Diving Club, which has been researching the cave for decades, began planning further dives to locate the missing diver. Additional assistance arrived for the operations in the evening and in the morning, including several rescuers with relevant cave diving experience.
Paragliding landing on a tree in the wood of Óbuda
March 6, 2022. The early afternoon the emergency phone rang. On the other side of the line is a parachute pilot, who hang on the tree in the wooded part of Óbuda (this is the 3rd district of Budapest).
Fortunately, she was not injured, but she was hanging on a 30 feets high on the tree, and unable to come down on her own.
Some minutes later we sent an alert to the Tree Rescue Forces, for which four rescuers soon applied.
Gábor Berta was the nearly and he started immediatly.
Gábor arrived at the scene with the equipment about 1 hour after the accident. The pilot lady sent her position on Google Maps, so it was not so difficult to find her in the dense forest.
She hung on a storm-damaged oak tree, about 30 feets high. The parachute was tangled in the dense shoots of the broken tree.
Luckilly the pilot was not stuck and could move her limbs. After the rescue the second task was the parachute untying from the tree. The cord was tangled but in the end the parachute was released step by step without any destruction.