MADRID (Reuters) -Two cavers missing for 40 hours in a 500-metre (1,600-foot) deep cave system in northern Spain were found unscathed on Monday by a search team.
Javier Allende, a spokesperson for regional emergency services, said the missing couple, both experienced cavers from central Spain, might have lost their light sources and then stayed put in the dark, following established protocol.
They were discovered in one of the galleries that had been identified as a likely location and were set to emerge shortly from the Garmaciega-Sima del Sombrero cave system, around 50 km (30 miles) west of Bilbao.
The cave system has many underground rivers and very low temperatures, and requires specialised equipment.
(Reporting by David Latona and Inti Landauro; editing by Charlie Devereux, Hani Richter and Kevin Liffey)
