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An American researcher has been rescued from a cave in Turkey more than a week after he fell seriously ill 1,000m (more than 3,000ft) below its entrance.

Mark Dickey, a 40-year-old experienced caver, was on an expedition to map Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains when he became seriously ill on 2 September with stomach bleeding.

The Speleological Federation of Turkey said he had left the cave after midnight local time and the rescue mission “has ended successfully”.

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Rescue effort to free US man in Turkey cave

Teams from across Europe rushed to the cave – the third deepest in Turkey – when Mr Dickey became too frail to climb out himself and carried him with the help of a stretcher, making frequent stops at temporary camps set up along the way.

Following his rescue, the caver described the experience as a “crazy, crazy adventure”.

“It is amazing to be above ground again,” Mr Dickey said, as he praised the rescue operation.

On Tuesday, Mr Dickey described having to throw up large quantities of blood.

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At one point he did not think he was “going to live” after his consciousness was waning.

Parents filled with ‘incredible joy’

A statement from Mark’s parents, Andy and Debbie Dickey, said the fact their son “has been moved out of Morca Cave in stable condition is indescribably relieving and fills us with incredible joy”.

The American was first treated inside the cave by a Hungarian doctor who went down on 3 September before other physicians and rescuers took turns caring for him.

The rescuers faced steep vertical sections and had to navigate through mud and water at low temperatures in the horizontal sections.

They also had to deal with the psychological toll of staying inside a dark and damp cave for extended periods of time.

Read more:
Mark Dickey sends video message from cave

Italian Alpine rescuers carry Mark Dickey on a stretcher
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Italian Alpine rescuers carry Mark Dickey on a stretcher

A map showing the cave where American Mark Dickey is trapped

Around 190 experts including doctors, paramedics and experienced cavers from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey took part in the rescue.

Teams of a doctor and three to four other rescuers took turns staying by Mr Dickey’s side at all times.

Members of the CNSAS, Italian alpine and speleological rescuers, start to descent on ropes the Morca cave during a rescue operation near Anamur, south Turkey
Pic:CNSAS /AP
Members of the CNSAS, Italian alpine and speleological rescuers, start to descent on ropes the Morca cave during a rescue operation near Anamur, south Turkey
Pic:CNSAS /AP
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Rescuers begin their descent on ropes. Pics: AP

The rescue began on Saturday after doctors, who had administered IV fluids and blood, determined Mr Dickey could make the arduous ascent.

Before the evacuation could begin rescuers had to widen some of the cave’s narrow passages, install ropes to pull him up vertical shafts on a stretcher and set up temporary camps along the way.

Mark Dickey
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Mark Dickey

Mr Dickey, from Croton-on-Hudson, New York, appeared in a video on Thursday, but said he was not “healed on the inside” and needed a lot of help to get out of the cave.

He is an instructor with the US National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC) and is highly regarded in the international speleological (the study of cave exploration) community and has previously taken part in rescue missions.

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Recording captures audio of Titanic submersible implosion

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Recording captures audio of Titanic submersible implosion

A recording has captured the implosion of the Titan submersible which went missing on its voyage to the wreck of the Titanic.

A passive acoustic recorder located around 900 miles from the implosion site picked up the sound, US Coast Guard officials said in a statement.

The short recording includes a loud noise that sounds like a muffled clap, before going silent for a few seconds.

The coastguard said the audio clip “records the suspected acoustic signature of the Titan submersible implosion” on 18 June 2023.

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Titan sub hull wreckage video released

The implosion killed all five people on board – Titan operator Stockton Rush, who founded Oceangate, the company that owned the submersible; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert and the sub’s pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

The sub vanished on its way to visit the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean, setting off a five-day search that ended when authorities said the vessel had been destroyed with no survivors.

The wreckage was eventually found on the ocean floor around 300m from the Titanic, according to officials.

After the disaster concerns were raised because of the Titan’s unconventional design and Rush’s refusal to submit to independent safety checks.

OceanGate suspended operations in July 2023.

Read more:
What happened to the Titan?
The stories of those on the Titan submersible

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Titan ‘malfunctioned’ days before fatal dive

A coastguard panel investigating the disaster heard two weeks of testimony last September, which saw a former OceanGate scientific director say the Titan malfunctioned during a dive just a few days before it imploded.

The coastguard is expected to release more information about the implosion in the future.

A spokesperson said the investigation is still ongoing and a final report will be released after it is completed.

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Glee actress Naya Rivera’s final words before drowning revealed

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Glee actress Naya Rivera's final words before drowning revealed

Naya Rivera’s ex-boyfriend Ryan Dorsey has – for the first time – shared details from the day she died.

Speaking to People, the 41-year-old actor said that “the last thing she said was his [her son’s] name, and then she went under, and he didn’t see her anymore”.

The Glee actress, 33, died after drowning in a California lake in July 2020 – when she was swimming with her young son Josey.

Josey, who was four at the time, told police his mother had boosted him on to the deck – after their boat had drifted away.

Local police said they believe that after saving her son, Rivera did not have enough energy to save herself.

Dorsey says his son, now nine, told him he was worried about getting into the water – and that Rivera had said, “don’t be silly!”.

The boat that Naya Rivera was using when she went missing is seen on Lake Piru in California. Pic: Reuters /Mario Anzuoni
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The boat that Naya Rivera was using when she went missing. Pic: Reuters /Mario Anzuoni


“Something he’s said over and over is that he was trying to find a life raft, and there was a rope, but there was a big spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it,” Dorsey told People.

“I keep reassuring him, buddy, that rope wasn’t going to be long enough.”

Dorsey added: “It just rocks my world that he had to witness her last moments.”

Naya Rivera is best-known for starring in Glee. Pic: Frank Micelotta/Invision/AP
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Naya Rivera is best-known for starring in Glee. Pic: Frank Micelotta/Invision/AP


The actor says he found out that Rivera was first missing after receiving a call from her stepfather – while he was in a supermarket buying food for a friend’s barbeque.

“I collapsed into a pallet of drinks,” Dorsey said. “I feared the worst.”

Ryan Dorsey and Naya Rivera. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
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Ryan Dorsey and Naya Rivera. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Dorsey said he immediately got into his car and drove 145 miles to Lake Piru, where Rivera and their son had been swimming.

“I drove 100-and-­something the whole way with my four-way hazards on, chain-smoking cigarettes – and I don’t even smoke, really – and just crying,” he says. “I just wanted to get to Josey.

“If we’d have lost both Naya and Josey, I don’t know how I would continue on with my life.”

He added: “When it happened, I just found myself shaking my head, like, I can’t believe she’s gone. It’s still so surreal every day.”

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RuPaul star had ‘unnatural’ death

Dorsey says the holiday period is particularly tough for his nine-year-old son.

He said: “We made this book of memories for Josey that sits by his bed, and during the holidays he was crying looking at it.

“You can only give him a hug and tell him, ‘I know, life is not fair. Bad things happen and there’s no reason for it, and you just have to do your best to be a good person.'”

In 2022, a lawsuit filed by Rivera’s family against Ventura County, California, over her drowning was privately settled.

Naya Rivera on the red carpet. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Naya Rivera on the red carpet. Pic: Reuters

The lawsuit for wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress was filed on behalf of her son.

The family also sued the United Water Conservation District and Parks and Recreation Management, accusing them of failing to warn visitors of the danger of boating and swimming in the lake, and saying Rivera’s death was “utterly preventable”.

They said the rented pontoon boat was not equipped with flotation or lifesaving devices, a ladder, rope, anchor, or any equipment designed to keep swimmers from being separated from their boat.

However, Ventura County officials said the death wasn’t their fault, and said the actress had declined to wear a life jacket. They said the rental agent had put the life jacket in the boat nevertheless.

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Elon Musk’s X to pay Trump $10m compensation

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Elon Musk's X to pay Trump m compensation

Elon Musk’s X has agreed to pay Donald Trump about $10m (£8m) after suspending his accounts following the 2021 US Capitol riot by his supporters, according to reports.

The payment follows a $25m (£20m) deal the US president’s lawyers struck with Meta Platforms – the owner of Facebook and Instagram – last month.

Mr Trump sued the social media platforms, along with Google’s owner Alphabet Inc, as well as their chief executives, in San Francisco over what he claimed was unlawful silencing of conservative opinions, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Twitter had cited the risk of Mr Trump inciting further violence related to his effort to remain in the White House following his loss to former President Joe Biden in the 2020 election as the reason for suspending his account.

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Is Elon Musk short on credibility?

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Mr Musk, who bought Twitter in 2022 and renamed it X, has become a fierce supporter of Mr Trump, giving $250m (£202m) to his 2024 election campaign.

The tech billionaire has been chosen by the president to head the new US Department of Government Efficiency – shortened to DOGE – whose purpose is to radically shrink federal bureaucracy.

Mr Trump’s legal team considered dropping the case given the platform’s change of ownership and how close the two men have become, before agreeing to the settlement, the Journal reported – quoting people familiar with the matter.

Lawyers are expected to pursue a similar agreement with Alphabet, which banned Mr Trump from YouTube after the Capitol riot.

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Musk defends DOGE reforms

Read more from Sky News:
Europe must get serious about defence

Glee star’s final words
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Neither the X, nor its CEO at the time of Mr Trump’s suspension, Jack Dorsey, as well as Alphabet and the White House have responded to requests for comment.

Mr Trump has pardoned about 1,500 supporters charged over the violence on 6 January 2021, which saw people storm the Capitol building in Washington to try to stop Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory being signed off.

Sky News has contacted X for comment.

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