FIVE cavers were rescued from Providence Pot near Kettlewell at the weekend.
A team from Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association (UWFRA) were called out at 9.29pm on Saturday by North Yorkshire Police after the five cavers, a group of men and women aged 18 to 25, were reported overdue from a trip into the pot.
UWFRA sent several parties into the pot to begin a search of the Dow-Providence system after the afternoon’s rain had melted snow, causing a rapid rise in stream levels.
At 4.25am on Sunday, teams from the Cave Rescue Organisation were asked to assist in the search.
Four members of the party were located at about 6.10am and the fifth caver was found about 50 minutes later. All five were in reasonable condition but were very cold.
Their ways out of the cave, both forward and back, had been blocked by floodwater.
They were fed and assisted back to the surface, emerging from Providence Pot and all reaching Hag Dyke by 1pm. They had been underground for about 26 hours.
The UWFRA and CRO teams were assisted by cavers from Derbyshire Cave Rescue as well as members of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and Yorkshire Ambulance Service.