19 escape cave in neck-deep water

Associated Press

HORSE CAVE, Ky.

Flash flooding threatened to trap a group of college students inside a Kentucky cave Thursday, but they navigated through neck-deep water to safety, authorities said.

The 19 people who escaped had to clutch onto a rope to handle the swift currents of floodwaters near the entrance of Hidden River Cave.

The group that spent more than six hours inside the cave included Clemson University students on a field trip, four tour guides and two police officers who got trapped when they tried to rescue the group, Kentucky State Police Trooper B.J. Eaton said.

The Clemson students had planned a five-hour trip exploring the cave’s geology when torrential rains hit the region after they entered.