The deepest cave in the world could swallow the Shard seven times over and took more than five decades to reach the bottom of.
Veryovkina Cave is found in the Gagra mountain range in Abkhazia, a Russian-supported separatist territory once governed by Georgia and extends 7,293ft into the ground. Russian cavers took fifty years to finally scale its vast size over more than 30 expeditions. Despite finally reaching the bottom, it is believed there is more to discover.
Its entrance lies between two mountains known as Fortress and Umbrella in the area. Attempts to discover the cave’s secrets has been fraught with danger. In 2018 a team in the bottom camp nearly drowned in a sudden flood.
Robbie Shone, a cave photographer for National Geographic, said of the horror incident: “The most enormous torrent of white water appeared out of this hole, and I just stood opened-mouthed at the sight of this huge white wall of water entering our little home.
“It got louder and louder. I will never forget that sound.”
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The location of the vast cave (Nzeemin/Wikimedia Commons)He explained how it took four days reaching the bottom of the cave by climbing down thousands of feet of rope and crawling through water and mud while carrying heavy packs. Veryovkina is vastly different from a network of caves in Kentucky, USA, where a caver endured an unimaginably slow death as he desperately screamed for help for hours whilst trapped between rocks.
William J Coughlin ventured to Cave City for what was meant to be a one-day adventure with his two pals. But it ended in horror as the enthusiast was squeezed to death by the rocks.
Spanish caver Marcos Vilariño González inside the cave (Petr Lyubimov/Wikicommons)The trio, who from Oak Forest, headed towards Buzzard Roost Cave on May 38, 1993. The attraction was described as "treacherous for beginners" because it was "dangerously underdeveloped". The popular network of caves, which spanned hundreds of miles, consisted of steep drops above dangerous spike-shaped rocks.
How far down the cave system goes (PJakopin/Wikimedia Commons)Less experienced cavers were advised to participate in a historic tour which showed more easily accessible sections of the cave. The wild cave tour was suggested for "the more daring visitor," according to a leaflet.
However during the trip Coughlin got stuck in the first tunnel several times - at 6ft tall and weighing more than 14 stone he was too large to fit through the passageway. He eventually made it through but later, when the group tried to leave the cave he slipped on the rope ladder and fell several feet. When the group tried to help him escape the save he became wedged in a rock formation with one hand stuck between his stomach and the rock, and the other trapped behind his back.
Coughlin was stuck in the passageway for seven hours, but eventually, rescue personnel were able to hoist him out of the cave. He died of his injuries the next day.
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