Caver dies in rock fall at Pikehall

AN experienced caver died in a rockfall while excavating new passages to explore underground.
David Briggs' two colleagues rushed to get help after a section of cave collapsed at Aston Hill Farm near Pikehall on Saturday morning – launching a desperate rescue operation.It is thought to be the first caving death in Derbyshire for about 15 years.A spokesperson for the Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation (DCRO) said: "People go caving every week and the vast majority do so very safely."But like anything else, like driving your car, things occasionally, tragically, go wrong."The three-man caving party were said to be "swallet holing" – a practice of digging to extend cave networks. They had been working on the site, near to the Via Gellia Road, for a number of weeks. (...)

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