Thirty Italian rescue workers were today attempting to extract an injured potholer trapped in a mountain cave on the border with Slovenia, officials said.
Rescuers described it as a "difficult operation" which was expected to last until at least midnight.
The 33-year-old caver from Trieste in northeastern Italy fell 20 metres (65 feet) yesterday as he explored a gallery 200 metres below the summit of Mount Canin.
According to the Italian press, he is conscious but suffering from stomach pain.
A team of specialists were using small quantities of explosives to enlarge a route out of the cave and enable them to get a stretcher through.
A doctor and a nurse reached him late yesterday.
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