Poland’s 2 trapped cavers die from hypothermia

WARSAW, Poland – Prosecutors in southern Poland say that two cavers who got trapped by rising water last month have died of hypothermia.

Their bodies were retrieved last week from the Wielka Sniezna cave in the Tatra Mountains.

A rescue operation was launched in mid-August after a group of cavers notified the Tatra emergency service that two of their colleagues got trapped in narrow, uncharted passages. Rescuers reached the bodies in late August.

Prosecutor Jan Ziemka in the southern town of Nowy Targ said Monday that an autopsy revealed that the deaths were a result of hypothermia related to their time in the cold and humid cave.