CAVE RESCUE DRAMA - Teens take perilous plunge to safety

A group of terrified teenagers had to dive underwater in pitch darkness to escape a flooded cave during a dramatic rescue near Waipu last night.
Rescuers battled for four hours to save the Auckland students who were trapped by a rapidly rising underground stream.
The six students and their instructor had been cut off by a flash flood three metres from the Waipu Caves main entrance about 3pm. A similar-sized group had safely exited the cave a short while earlier. Its instructor raised the alarm when the second group did not follow soon after.
About 60 police, rescue and fire personnel were on the ground during the drama, which took place in torrential rain.
Tensions at the scene heightened around 8pm when a call came from rescuers at the cave mouth that the situation had become critical. A fire engine pump that had been keeping the water level down was no longer able to cope with the rising torrent between the semi-submerged group and the cave mouth.
But within minutes the last of the students had made the plunge and swum underground through swirling, black water to safety.
When it was over, around 8.30pm, two adults and seven teenagers were taken to Whangarei Hospital and later discharged. Ambulance officers had treated them at the scene for mild hypothermia.
Northland Search and Rescue boss Senior Sergeant Cliff Metcalfe said the rescue had been very intense but went smoothly. It had been a long, slow process because the party had had to be rescued one by one, he said. The instructor had been the last person out.
"It was scary stuff because the kids had to swim underwater for the last two metres in the pitch black," Mr Metcalfe said. They had handled it extremely well and been very brave.
Crews from five fire brigades were at the scene along with police search and rescue personnel, a specialist cave rescue squad and St John Ambulance.
The teenagers were with Project K North Shore, a Foundation for Youth Development programme geared at young teenagers.
Project K general manager Tim Draper was on his way to Waipu last night "to see everyone was happy and there were no issues".
He said the teenagers from Auckland's North Shore - thought to be from Northcote College - were with three instructors plus two guides from Waipu business Peak Adventures. "The guides are from the area and are experts on the caves," he said. The group had arrived in Waipu on Wednesday night.
Project K was founded in 1995 by New Zealanders Graeme Dingle and Jo-anne Wilkinson.
Peak Adventures is run by Ian and Cindy Fox, who offer a range of outdoor activities such as abseiling, bush adventures, rock climbing, caving. They were last night not returning calls.
New Zealand Speleological Society safety officer Kip Mandeno said he strongly recommended that anyone entering a cave system should be aware of recent rain and the weather forecast and should seek local knowledge.
"Typically, if I'm going into a streamway cave, or one with a wet exit, I'll check if the water is high already and what weather's expected over the next 24 to 36 hours." Streamway caves acted like drains and could flood quickly. Water could back up behind obstructions creating a sump where the cave roof was below water level.
Waipu Cave was one of the largest limestone karst cave systems in Northland, Mr Mandeno said.