Mark Dickey, an American researcher, has been trapped in a cave in Turkey since Saturday, the third deepest in the country. He was there for a reconnaissance mission, but when he suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding, he was no longer able to climb independently.

Now six international rescue and medical teams are preparing to remove Dickey from Morca cave, an operation that could take at least three to four days. This was revealed by Cenk Yildiz, a regional official at Turkey’s Disaster Relief Agency.

When the American suffered a medical emergency, authorities sent a doctor who was able to give him a deep blood transfusion. They hoped that with treatment he would be able to get out of the cave on his own, but he is still not strong enough and will need the help of a stretcher.

The rescue will not be easy, as it takes a sane person about 15 hours to leave the Morca cave on their own. For this reason, the six rescue teams are organized for an operation divided into seven parts.

“The operation is logistically and technically one of the largest cave rescues in the world,” Turkey’s Speleology Federation said in a statement.

This will be the rescue of the explorer trapped in the cave

The European Cave Rescue Association (ECRA) has already organized the way members of the rescue groups will be located to reach Dickey.

In addition, small camps are set up at different levels in the cave for doctors, nurses and technicians to rest.

Map of Morca Cave in Türkiye, where Dickey is imprisoned.

According to Recep Salci, a Turkish rescue official, their goal is to “get him out and hospitalize him as soon as possible.” (JO)