A 37-year-old woman has died in the Cuevas del Agua, a popular underwater cave system located in Cartagena, Spain.
The incident occurred late on Saturday, 18 January when the diver reportedly failed to surface after becoming trapped in the system. Her dive buddy, who was able to exit the cave, alerted authorities shortly after 11 pm.
A search was launched by the Special Group of Underwater Activities of the Civil Guard (GEAS), accompanied by firefighters and members of the local police force.
The team was able to extract the woman’s body from the cave in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Cuevas del Agua (Water Caves) is the longest hydrothermal network in Spain, one of Europe’s only warm-water cenotes.
It is a popular but challenging dive spot recommended for experienced cave divers only. Prior to the latest tragedy, the system had claimed five lives in the last 35 years.
Two divers drowned in the system in the early 1990s, two Guardia Civil officers in 1996 and a fifth diver in 2010. In 2017, a diver was successfully rescued after being trapped in the cave for five hours.
In response to the latest incident, Cartagena City Council has shut down access to the cave, and is planning to meet with cave diving experts to establish a set of restrictions to prevent further fatalities.
Questions are already being asked as to why the dive team attempted to dive the cave so late at night.
