Qua Los Angeles tragedy. On May 30th, 1999, Francis Reyes, an experienced National Cave Rescue Commission guide, led 17 people into Qua Los Angeles in Puerto Rico. Among them was Elba Vasquez Gonzalez. The group entered the cave shortly afternoon, and the group followed a stream passage that initially seemed safe. As they went deeper, Reyes noticed the stream's flow got stronger. The group didn't know that heavy rain had fallen in far away mountains, sending water rushing through the cave. Feeling danger, Reyes decided to take the group toward higher ground. As the water level started to rise, the gentle stream became a dangerous current and panic set in. He told everyone to climb a steep rocky slope, leading to an upper passage. Reyes and Vasquez were last. As they approached the slope, Vasquez had trouble keeping her balance on the slick ground and fell. The current swept her downstream right away. Her head struck the cave wall and she lost consciousness. Reyes jumped into the dangerous water immediately. Fighting against the current, he reached Vasquez and grabbed her with one arm while bracing against rocks with the other. Struggling against the powerful flow, he made his way back to the slope with Vasquez still unconscious. When he reached the bottom of the slope, he was almost too tired to move. Using his last bit of strength, he lifted Vasquez up and the group pulled her to safety on dry ground above. As Reyes attempted to climb up himself, a huge wave surged through the passage. It struck him with tremendous force, breaking his grip on the rocks. Vasquez, now conscious, reached for him desperately. Their fingers briefly touched before the current pulled him beyond reach as he was swept away into the cave. The other guides led the group to a dry chamber higher in the cave, and they waited there together, making sense of what just happened while Vasquez sat apart from the group, crying. Rescuers arrived by dawn, but struggled with the high water levels. Hours later, they reached the trapped group and rescued them. Despite her injuries, Vasquez insisted on walking out without assistance. Vasquez was taken to the hospital where she was found to be in good condition, but unfortunately Reyes's body was recovered downstream later that day. Roaring River Cave. On October 14th, 2022, a team of cave divers came to explore the underwater passages of Roaring River Cave in Missouri. This cave was challenging to dive as its underwater passages went down steeply, requiring special diving skills and equipment. The team had specific jobs. Two divers would go to the deepest parts of the cave. Eric Han, a 27-year-old diver, would work with another diver, which we'll call Marty, to place extra air tanks at 130 ft and 190 ft below the surface. These tanks would provide emergency air if needed. Han used a special breathing device called a rebreather. This equipment reuses breathing gas by removing carbon dioxide and adding oxygen as needed, allowing divers to stay underwater longer. At 11:12 a.m., Han entered the water and started following the guideline. As he went deeper, it got colder and darker with only his dive lights showing the way. 12 minutes later, Han reached the 190 ft point. He briefly met with another diver who later said Han seemed fine with no signs of trouble. Just 1 minute later, though, something went wrong. Han suddenly crashed into his partner, Marty, and began swimming up quickly, which is dangerous at that depth. Marty knew this was an emergency and followed Han to help. Marty caught up when Han hit a rocky ceiling at 165 ft. Han was struggling with his breathing equipment. The situation got worse when Han pulled out his mouthpiece without closing it, letting water into his breathing system. These convulsions matched the signs of oxygen poisoning, which happens when a diver breathes too much oxygen at depth. Marty tried to hold Han while managing both the convulsing diver and the emergency mouthpiece, but they ended up sinking to the bottom at 204 ft. The water quickly became cloudy as their struggle stirred up silt from the cave floor, and eventually it became too dangerous for Marty to continue the rescue. He couldn't see the guideline anymore. He was getting tired and his own air supply was running low. Meanwhile, another diver had gone up to get help. Marty, forced to give up the rescue attempt, started going back up and met another team member during a safety stop. This diver tried to go down to help Han, but faced the same problems. Cloudy water, distance from the safety line, and dangerously high oxygen levels at that depth. Just 23 minutes after Han entered the water, another team member saw Marty coming back without Han. The surface manager stopped any more rescue attempts, telling all divers to complete their safety stops and exit safely. Rescue operations began at 4 p.m. almost 5 hours after Han entered the waters when the Missouri Highway Patrol diving team arrived. They found Han's body at about 200 ft deep. When examined, Han's main mouthpiece was open and out of his mouth. His backup mouthpiece instead was in his mouth with a small air leak. His tank still had air, showing he didn't run out of breathing gas. Cave diving experts found that Han seems to have miscalculated how deep he could safely go with his breathing gases. His main gas didn't have enough helium for diving at those depths, making him more likely to get nitrogen narcosis. Besides, Han had also been manually adding too much oxygen to his system at 190 ft. Even small additions of oxygen can quickly reach dangerous levels at depth, possibly causing the oxygen poisoning that was noted. Dudu Cave tragedy. On February 9th, 2019, two Italian divers, Carlo Baso and Carlo Barbiieri, went to explore the famous El Dudu Cave system in the Dominican Republic. This underwater cave is known for its maze-like passages and beautiful scenery that attracts many divers. Neither Baso nor Barbieri had proper training for cave diving, as they only had regular openwater diving experience. By 11:50 a.m., they had entered the water. At first, their dive went smoothly as they swam deeper into the cave. As they went further though, the cave became darker and narrower. Then they made a critical mistake. They left the main guideline and entered a side passage. These side paths are more dangerous, which is why they're set apart from the main line. As they moved through this narrow space, they stirred up fine dirt from the cave floor. The clear water quickly turned dirty, and they couldn't see anything. Their lights only bounced off the floating dirt particles, making them useless. Things quickly got worse. They had lost the main guideline. Every move they made stirred up more dirt, making them even more confused. They couldn't even use hand signals to communicate because of how badly cloudy the water was. Each panicked breath used up their air supply faster. The situation became deadly when Baso's front air tank got tangled in the cave line. As he struggled to move, the line broke, cutting off their only reliable way back to the exit. They were now trapped in an unknown passage with no clear way out and running out of air. When the divers didn't return by midafternoon, people waiting on land became worried. The Dominican Republic's Speliological Society was called, and two skilled divers, Philip Leman and Angel Compra, started searching for them. The rescuers soon found cloudy water, the first sign of trouble. Then they discovered a broken guideline leading into a narrow dirt fil passage. The water was so cloudy they had to feel their way through. After hours of searching, they had to turn back without finding the missing divers. The search continued the next day. On February 12th, 3 days after Baso and Barbieri entered the cave, rescuers found one of them. Carlo Barbie's body was stuck in a narrow side passage in a spot so tight that even the rescue divers had trouble reaching him. His gear was working fine, which means he likely ran out of air or drowned. The rescuers couldn't get his body out because the passage was too narrow and decided to leave the body there. By February 21st, after searching for nearly 2 weeks, the local team stopped looking. The risks were too great and there was little hope of finding Boso alive. Two American divers, Ed Sorenson and Mike Young, experts in cave rescue, were called to help. After getting permission from worried local officials, Sorenson and Young had 8 days to complete their mission. Using special equipment, including a harness for tight spaces and a four-point anchor system, they carefully moved into the narrow passage where barbiieri was found. Then they discovered Baso's body the next day, stuck in a narrow passage beyond where they found Barbieri. Both bodies were eventually retrieved. Deepolder sink 2. On May 11th, 1990, in Hernando County, Florida, 25-year-old Michael Spears and his diving partner, Daniel, aged 34, prepared to dive into Deepolder Sink 2, one of Florida's most dangerous underwater cave systems. Michael had earned his cave diving certification just 5 months earlier, even though he had completed 75 cave dives. Daniel, however, had over 10 years of experience. Unfortunately, recent rains had reduced visibility. But this didn't stop them. After checking their gear, they entered the water. They carefully moved through the narrow entrance into the main cave. By the time they reached the junction room, the water had become very cloudy. They could barely see a few feet ahead with their lights. They relied on the guideline, a thin rope that helps divers find their way in caves. When they reached the upper circuit line, the water cleared slightly. They adjusted their gear, gave each other okay hand signals, and began going deeper into the cave system. As they went past 200 ft deep, breathing became harder. The compressed air felt heavier in their lungs. At this depth, divers can get nitrogen narcosis, which is like being drunk underwater as it slows thinking and reactions. Halfway through their dive, Daniel noticed something wrong. Michael had drifted below the guideline. At first, it was just a few feet, but then he went down faster, as if being pulled. His movements became weird. They were already near 250 ft deep, approaching the same junction room as before, where they would have to go back through the muddy water. When they reached the junction room once again, visibility dropped to zero. Michael reached for the guideline twice and missed. Panic set in. Disoriented, he turned the wrong way, back into the cave instead of toward the exit. Daniel lost sight of him immediately. Michael was fighting for his life. He saw what he thought was a guideline and followed it, unknowingly swimming deeper into an isolated chamber called the downstream ballroom. The increasing depth made breathing harder as carbon dioxide built up in his blood. His vision darkened at the edges, and it was becoming clear that it was the beginning of a depth induced blackout. When his buoyancy failed, he sank and lost consciousness before reaching the bottom. Meanwhile, Daniel completed his required safety stops to prevent decompression sickness, a process needed to let nitrogen safely exit the body. At his 30-foot stop, Daniel looked around for Michael, but couldn't see him. By the time he reached the surface, other divers had arrived. They went back into the cave, following the guideline to the junction room, but couldn't find Michael. The next morning, a team of skilled cave divers began the rescue operation. They carefully followed the guideline to the junction room and into the lower circuit, moving slowly to avoid stirring up more sediment. After hours of searching, at 241 ft deep, they found Michael lying face down. His regulator remained in his mouth and his mask in place, signs he had blacked out before realizing he was in danger. His oxygen tank was still half full. The search took 7 hours. The rescue team secured his body and brought him to the surface. Experts concluded that nitrogen narcosis and depth induced blackout worsened by carbon dioxide buildup had caused Michael's death. Wikiwatchi Springs tragedy. On March 31st, 2012 at Wikiwatchi Springs, Florida, 29-year-old experienced diver Marson Kay was working with the Karst underwater research team to explore and map the underwater caves in the park. After checking their diving equipment, Kay and his team entered the water and started following the guideline. The team moved together in the dark water, studying the cave at depths over 100 ft. They kept a steady pace to avoid getting too much nitrogen in their blood. After finishing their work and starting to come back up, Kay stayed close to the guideline. But around 4:30 p.m., something changed. As they got near the cave exit, Kay suddenly swam away from the guideline. He went up into a tight crack in the rock, a space so narrow that divers with tanks on their sides would have trouble fitting through. His movements became quick and weird. The other divers noticed and tried to signal him with their lights, flashing them to tell him to stop. Since that didn't work, they tried tapping him, but Kay didn't respond normally. He pushed farther into the narrow crack, twisting his body to get through. Safety divers nearby couldn't do anything as Kay squeezed himself deeper into the tight space. After 5 minutes, they saw his breathing regulator wasn't in his mouth anymore. The team immediately called for help, but the narrow crack made it very hard to reach Kay. When a rescue diver finally reached him, it was too late. He wasn't responding, even though his tanks still had plenty of air, and his equipment was working fine. He had passed out and drowned in the tight space where he was stuck. Kay's body was brought to the surface just before 5:00 p.m. After the accident, the car's team explained that Kay didn't deliberately leave the guideline and swim into the crack. They explained he had an air bubble in the blood vessels of his brain, a condition caused by coming up too quickly, which can make a diver confused and unable to think clearly. Paradise Springs tragedy. On September 22nd, 1996 at Paradise Springs, Florida, two friends, Jake Miller and Lisa Carter, went diving in an underwater cave. Both knew how to dive in open water, but had no training for cave diving specifically. And to make things worse, they didn't bring a safety line to find their way back. They entered the cave and descended 60 ft when they turned on their flashlights to see as they headed towards the passages. Jake went first with Lisa following. As they went deeper, the passage got narrower. At 148 ft, they had gone deeper than they planned, but they kept going. Suddenly, Jake kicked up dirt from the cave floor by accident, clouding the water, and within seconds, they couldn't see anything. Lisa tried to grab Jake but couldn't find him in the cloudy water. Jake, lost and unable to see, started to panic. He breathed faster, using up his air quickly. While feeling around for a way out, his hand found a narrow crack in the rock. He tried to squeeze through it, but his air tank and straps got stuck in the tight space. He couldn't move, couldn't see, and was completely lost in the dark. Meanwhile, Lisa felt movement in the water. She thought the cave might be falling in, so she quickly decided to swim back to the surface. After reaching safety, she called for help right away. Back in the cave, Jake was struggling to stay alive. His chest was pushed against the rock, his shoulders stuck in the crack. With his air running low, he desperately worked to take off his straps and eventually got free from his tank. He was no longer stuck, but now had no air supply and no light in the dark, cloudy water. Jake pushed away from the rock and tried to swim up to reach the surface. Rescue divers came within an hour. They went into the cave and searched through the cloudy water. They found that the cave had not collapsed as first reported. They found Jake's body in the crack, but he wasn't stuck anymore. Investigators realized that after freeing himself by taking off his tank and straps, Jake tried to swim to the surface. As he went up, the air in his lungs expanded and likely caused a bubble in his blood, making him pass out before he could reach safety. His body was found floating in the water at 144 ft deep. Lisa survived and later admitted they hadn't taken the risks seriously enough. If you like this video, subscribe for similar ones or join my Discord to suggest another.