Morocco Locates Missing Spanish Cavers, Rescue Launched
Moroccan emergency services launched a rescue operation for three Spanish cavers Saturday found apparently alive by search teams in the High Atlas mountains, an official said.
The trio were found at the bottom of a cliff in the Tamest area, Morocco's MAP news agency reported, without immediately giving any word on their state of health.
But while expressing caution, Zoubir Bouhour, head of the Ouarzazate regional tourism organization, said they "appear to be alive."
Bouhour said "helicopters and elements of the civil defense were participating in the rescue effort."
The area they had been exploring includes peaks of around 4,000 meters (13,125 feet) that have been covered with snow from a heavy winter, and been subjected to a sudden rise in temperatures in recent days.
The three caving enthusiasts had been missing for several days and fears that they could have been caught up in flash floods caused by melting snow had prompted intensive air and ground searches.
They were part of a group of nine Spaniards who had split up on Sunday to explore different caves.
They were supposed to have met up in Ouarzazate, and when the three failed to do so by Tuesday afternoon their fellow cavers alerted the authorities.
Ouarzazate lies to the south of the mountain range on the edge of the desert, about 510 kilometers (320 miles) by road from the capital Rabat.
Source: Agence France Presse
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