British cave diver identified after fatal dive in French system

The entrance to the system at Gouffre de Saint-Sauveur (Photo: Shutterstock)

The British cave diver found dead in France’s Gouffre de Saint-Sauveur has been identified as Gloucestershire-based instructor and experienced technical and rebreather diver Andrew ‘Andy’ Rice.

Rice, 43, from Stroud, was part of a group of eight experienced British cave divers visiting the Lot region of south-western France.

He entered the Saint-Sauveur system near Calès at around 3.30 pm on 18 September with two other divers, who returned safely.

His companions raised the alarm at around 8.00 pm when he failed to return within the expected timeframe.

French authorities activated the underground-rescue provisions of the country’s emergency response system, ORSEC, with firefighters and specialist cave rescuers beginning searches that evening.

The operation was reinforced by gendarmes from the Marseillan nautical brigade and additional personnel and equipment on Saturday.

Rescuers hoped Rice might have reached an air-filled chamber within the system, but a search of the chamber found no sign of him.

His body was finally located at a depth of 88m on Sunday, 20 September, following a large multi-agency search.

It was not possible to remove him at the time, as he was reportedly entangled in the guideline in a narrow section of the cave, and dislodged clay in the passage had severely limited the visibility.

Cahors public prosecutor Clara Ribeiro confirmed that his body was brought out of the system at 4.00 pm on Wednesday and taken to the Institut Médico-Légal in Toulouse for an autopsy.

Rice was deputy training officer at InDepth Dive Club and a PADI Open Water Instructor. His club profile also lists him as a BSAC and SAA Dive Leader, a qualified cave and rebreather diver, and a member of the Cave Diving Group.

A chef by profession, Rice began diving in Malaysia in 2010. He later worked as a dive guide in Australia and undertook technical training in Thailand before developing his interest in British mine and cave diving.

Before travelling to France, Rice had written on Facebook that he hoped to complete his 1,000th dive during the trip. In his final update on the morning of 18 September, he wrote: ‘Ready for the Big one today, dive #1000.’

The post described a shakedown dive to practise using a needle valve fitted some months earlier, with Rice saying he now felt confident with its operation.

There are no indications that the equipment modification might have contributed to his death, the cause of which remains under investigation by the local police.

The Gouffre de Saint-Sauveur system is a karst resurgence (the point at which an underground river returns to the surface) of the River Ouysse, and one of several such systems within the Lot region of southern France.

The region is popular with cave divers, with tunnels in the Saint-Sauveur system known to descend beyond 100 metres in depth.