Opodo travel news
Large woman traps tourists in cave
4 Jan 2007
A group of tourists were trapped inside a cave while on a holiday in South Africa after an obese woman became wedged between the walls.
The small cave, known as the Tunnel of Love, had 23 people inside when the 25-stone woman tried to enter.
Workers had warned the woman that her weight may cause problems in the cave, but she insisted on being allowed to enter.
The unnamed woman was wedged in the small gap for 12 hours, with rescuers having to pass supplies past her to the people trapped inside.
'We regularly have people getting stuck in the caves for an hour or so, but never anything on this scale,' Hein Gerstner, the manager of the caves in the Western Cape, told the AFP news agency.
'This was a freak. None of our guides, some of whom have been here for more than 40 years, have ever seen anything like it.
'She was really quite a large woman,' he added.
Eventually the woman was freed, with rescue workers using liquid paraffin lubricant and a pulley system.
© Adfero Ltd
The small cave, known as the Tunnel of Love, had 23 people inside when the 25-stone woman tried to enter.
Workers had warned the woman that her weight may cause problems in the cave, but she insisted on being allowed to enter.
The unnamed woman was wedged in the small gap for 12 hours, with rescuers having to pass supplies past her to the people trapped inside.
'We regularly have people getting stuck in the caves for an hour or so, but never anything on this scale,' Hein Gerstner, the manager of the caves in the Western Cape, told the AFP news agency.
'This was a freak. None of our guides, some of whom have been here for more than 40 years, have ever seen anything like it.
'She was really quite a large woman,' he added.
Eventually the woman was freed, with rescue workers using liquid paraffin lubricant and a pulley system.
© Adfero Ltd
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