A search and rescue operation launched on Sunday retrieved five people alive from Lele cave in West Java after heavy rain hit the area and flooded it. Rescue workers also retrieved three dead students from the cave.
The students, who were part of a university nature club, went there to train in basic caving.
The victims “were trapped inside the cave for quite a while before the team managed to evacuate them,” said local search and rescue agency spokeswoman Seni Wulandari. Initially, only five students were inside the cave, including the victims. Later, three people came to rescue them, but all of them were trapped and only five managed to survive.
A senior member of the club, Ari Alfian, who helped with the evacuation, said the weather was normal when the students entered the cave, but an unexpected heavy downpour hit the area.
The rainy season started in late November and several regions in Indonesia including West Java have been hit by bad weather and storms in the past two weeks.
