Unfortunate death in Abaliget cave
On the afternoon of August 4, 2018, a man participating in a tourist cave tour in the Abaliget Stalactite Cave became ill and his circulation collapsed as he made his way up the stairs leading to the Great Hall at the end of the built-up part of the cave.
Accidentally, as a visitor to the tour, one of the doctors of our rescue service started an immediate resuscitation together with the arrived National Ambulance Service however the man's life could not be saved.
The corpse was transported to the surface by external members of the BMSz present and arriving at the site, on the stretcher of the territorial unit.
We must emphasize that the Abaligeti Cave - like the other visitor friendly, pre-built, sometimes wheelchair accessible, visitable caves in Hungary - can be visited in complete safety in street clothes, without any training. Unfortunately, the issue that happened can occur anywhere, on the street, or even at home.
BMSz expresses its condolences to the relatives of the deceased.
Paragliding landing on a tree in Óbuda
On Friday night, several of us were preparing to watch the lunar eclipse, but life didn’t just intervene with the cloudy capital sky….
On Thursday afternoon, July 26th, 2018, a paraglider “A level” pilot flew in Óbuda. An airlift found along the slope began to slam the ears of his parachute over his head - he lost considerable height while solving the problem. Before his dome had been stabilized, he got stuck in the trees near the panoramic road on the side of Hármashatár-hegy Hill, a few hundred meters from the Óbuda landing area.
After a successful self-rescue and an unsuccessful attempt to recover his dome, the pilot asked a cave rescue colleague, our friend to help remove the parachute he had left there for the night.
Double paragliding accident in Kesztölc
On Saturday afternoon, July 21th , 2018, two paraglider pilots were having trouble at the Kétágú-hegy hill starting point on the border of Kesztölc city.
At the starting points of the area, everyone tried to fly in difficult and often challenging weather conditions, thus for each take-off and every 10 minutes they flew, the pilots had to work hard all day. At 17:10, due to conditions that suddenly became unfavorable, a pilot fell into the trees near the take-off area immediately after departure.
The companions of the unfortunate pilot immediately and directly notified the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service based on the alert list found on www.caverescue.hu. After the departure of the cave rescue team, around 17:20, another 30-year-old woman pilot was forced to land among the trees due to an unexpected downstream.
Paraglider accident near to Vértesszőlős
On July 14, 2018, at around 12:20, a paraglider got into trouble shortly after taking off from the start point at Vértesszőlős. In the windy weather, an unexpectedly strong current blew him away the pilot landed on top of a tree in the forest below. He had no injuries and was able to notify the competent authority of the Free Flyers Association. At 12:28, the Free Flyers Association asked the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service (BMSZ) to help rescue the pilot and the paraglide.
BMSZ arrived at the border of Vértesszőlős at 15:40 on the landing meadow used by paragliding athletes with two cave rescuers, an off-road vehicle, mountaineering equipment, pruners and telescopic handles, and began searching for the pilot.Following the guidance of the nearby paragliders we found the pilot at 16:10 after about a 2 km hike.
Accident in Thailand - summary
On 23 June 2018, 13 visitors disappeared in the Tham Luang Nang Non Cave in the Dai Nang Non region in the northern border zone of Thailand. The missing people are young between the ages of 11 and 25, a local youth football team and their coach.
The total length of the cave is about 10 km, it has several entrances. The cave is a complex, active karst cave with a creek, a part of which intended for tourists was equipped with sidewalks, stairs and railings.
The entrances were not closed, but information and danger signs were displayed. The main danger of the cave is that, unlike other karst areas, the possible floods here do not last for hours or days, but the flooding can persist throughout the rainy season. Getting the missing football team out of the cave was also prevented by the fact that some of the passages used to go inwards were submerged due to the heavy rains, making it impossible for the team to get out due to a lack of quailification and equipments
Cave rescue training for women
4 members of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service attended an international cave rescue training course specifically for women at the invitation of the Cave Rescue Service of Slovenia (Jamarska Reševalna Služba). The course was being held from 24 June to 1 July, 2018 in Scezna, Slovenia.
In addition to the Hungarian delegation, cave rescue women (and some lucky men) from Germany, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Turkey and Ukraine also came to the training.
The aim of the training was on the one hand to share and deepen the knowledge of rope technique used for rescue (which is becoming more and more uniform throughout Europe), on the other hand to transfer the knowledge that enabled women who might be physically weaker than their male counterparts to participate effectively in a rescue.
Rescue exercise in the Mecsek Mountains in the spring of 2018
Our first semester rescue practice was organized on the weekend of June 2-3, 2018, after consultations and obtaining permits, in the Spiral Cave of the Mecsek Mountains. We had training in this cave before. The exciting cave has put us to the test again with its heavy narrows, narrow stream branch, and serious pit system.
Our regional unit in southern Hungary went fist to the cave, with a doctor and medical equipment, took care of the injured and kept him warm. A command point was set up on the surface where the rescue work was organized and directed. The central rescue team and the other regional units arrived to the rescue scene in several groups. We have built our cave phone system as well as rigged the rope work for vertical transportation.