Stuck in a Cave

Headnote

British military personnel get trapped spelunking, spark bilateral firestorm

PUEBLA-The six men from Britain's Combined Forces Caving Association expected a trip packed with spelunking, hiking and plenty of tacos and beers. Instead, they found themselves trapped for eight days underground, locked up for four days in a detention center and at the center of a diplomatic rift between Mexico and England.

But the retired major, civilian caving expert and four British soldiers refused to let such trivialities dampen their spirits. "We're feeling quite cheerful. Anybody got a drink?" asked Toby Hamnett, shortly after he had escaped from his subterranean prison by diving through a 100-meter-long flooded tunnel.

The ill-fated expedition, codenamed "Cuetzalan Tiger 2004," started at the rugged mountains of Puebla at the end of February. The objective was to explore and map tunnels around Cueva Alpazat, which could be one of the biggest caving systems in the Americas.

No major problems were expected, as many of the team had already been to the caves, which lie beneath a group of ramshackle villages in one of Mexico's poorest regions. But after several successful trips into the tunnels, disaster struck in the form of a freak torrential downpour.

300 METERS BELOW

Central Mexico's rainy season normally lasts from early June to late October. However, on March 17, a torrid storm passed above the mountains around Cuetzalan and flooded a section of the Alpazat caves, completely blocking a 100-meter long passage.

In accordance with their safety measures, over half the team, including expedition leader Major Steve Whitlock, were safe on the surface. But retired major Jonathon Simms, civilian Simon Cornhill and serving military personnel Charles Milton, Chris Mitchell, John Roe and Hamnett were all deep underground on a trip programmed to take up to 48 hours.

"We were never really worried. We have 100 years of caving experience between us," said Simms, recalling the moment when they realized they were trapped. The men also had two weeks rations, including a lot of instant spaghetti and chocolate cake and had radio contact with the ground.

The plan was to let the...