Rescuers race to save ill US cave explorer trapped 3,000 feet underground

Mark Dickey, the U.S. caver who is currently trapped near Morca, poses in Mentone, Alabama, U.S., May 12, 2023. National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC)/Handout via REUTERS/File photo

MERSIN, Turkey (Reuters) - More than 150 rescuers raced on Thursday to reach an American man who fell ill and became trapped some 1,000 metres (3,280 ft) underground in a cave he was exploring in southern Turkey.

Mark Dickey, 40, was on an international exploration mission in the Morca cave in the Taurus mountains when he began suffering gastrointestinal bleeding, Turkey's TUMAF caving federation said in a statement.