Rescuers in the German Alps have begun the most delicate part of an effort to bring an injured man out of a deep underground cave by stretcher.<br /><br />Johann Westhauser, a 52-year-old researcher, suffered head wounds in a rock fall at a depth of 1,000 metres over a week ago.<br /><br />Three doctors who reached him in the cave near Berchtesgaden are negotiating a difficult section of smooth walls and a 200-metre ascent described as “brutal”, which could take two days to complete.<br /><br />Mountain rescuers say the operation has gone well so far.<br /><br />“The patient has been able to remain in the stretcher for the entire time so he didn’t have to get out. Three doctors are currently with him, a German, an Austrian and one from Slovenia. So his medical care — as far as this is possible under these circumstances — is very good,” said Roland Ampenberger of the Bavarian Mountain Rescue.<br /><br />Rescuers from several countries are involved in the long haul to bring the injured man to the surface.<br /><br />Westhauser was exploring the Riesending cave – the name means “massive thing” – with two companions when the accident happened.<br /><br />One stayed with him. The other spent 12 hours climbing through the steep shafts and narrow tunnels to raise the alarm.
