This is a list of recreational caving fatalities in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It includes all verified deaths associated with the exploration of natural caves and disused mines in the modern era (post 1880). Deaths involving members of the general public who may have slipped down a shaft, or wandered into a cave without being aware of the risks, have been excluded. Caving cannot be considered a particularly dangerous pastime. In 2018, there were up to 4,000 regular cavers in the UK, and about 70,000 people who went on instructor-led courses into caves in the Yorkshire Dales, but there were no fatalities.

List of fatalities

The following is a list of the 136 identified recorded fatalities associated with recreational caving in the UK. The main causes of death have been drowning when cave diving, drowning as the result of flooding or negotiating deep water, injuries incurred from falling from a height, and injuries incurred as the result of rock falls. In ten cases the bodies have not been recovered. The worst incident in UK caving history was the

Mossdale Caverns Mossdale Caverns is a cave system in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is about north of Grassington, and east of Conistone, where Mossdale Beck sinks at the base of Mossdale Scar. It lies at an altitude of on the eastern flank of Wharfedale, ...

incident in 1967 when six cavers drowned following an unexpected cloudburst. There have been three incidents when three people have died. The first was when three cavers drowned in Langstroth Pot in 1976 when

free-diving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breath- ...

short sections of underwater passage as the result of the air in an air bell becoming foul. Three cavers were killed by a rock fall in

Ease Gill Caverns The Ease Gill Cave System is the longest, and most complex cave system in Britain as of 2011, with around of passages, including connections only passable by cave diving. It spans the valley between Leck Fell and Casterton Fell. The water ...

in 1988, and three cavers drowned in the Marble Arch system in 1995. Porth yr Ogof, in South Wales, accounts for eleven fatalities, nine of which were the result of people drowning when negotiating the exit pool. Ease Gill Caverns and its associated entrances accounts for ten deaths; Alum Pot and its associated entrances account for six, as does Mossdale Caverns (all from the 1967 incident). The only case of a caver dying in the UK as the result of becoming stuck was Neil Moss in Peak Cavern in 1959. The cause of death was foul air building up around him.

Breakdown of fatalities by cause and area

The following table summarises the major causes of fatality in UK caving by cause and by area. The commonest cause of fatality in the UK is drowning - accounting for almost half the deaths when cave diving is included, and 40% when diving is excluded. The second major cause of fatality, when cave diving is excluded, is falling from height which accounts for 23% of fatalities, followed by rock fall which accounts for 14% of fatalities. The 'Other' category includes gas poisoning and asphyxiation.

Breakdown of fatalities by cause and decade

The following table summarises the major causes of fatality in UK caving by decade. The changes from decade to decade partly reflect the different numbers of active cavers, partly changing techniques, and partly improved equipment.

Breakdown of fatalities over time

The following bar chart shows the number of fatalities in each decade: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:600 height:305 PlotArea = left:25 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:5 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1900 text:1900s bar:1910 text:1910s bar:1920 text:1920s bar:1930 text:1930s bar:1940 text:1940s bar:1950 text:1950s bar:1960 text:1960s bar:1970 text:1970s bar:1980 text:1980s bar:1990 text:1990s bar:2000 text:2000s bar:2010 text:2010s bar:2020 text:2020s PlotData= color:barra width:40 align:left bar:1900 from: 0 till:1 bar:1910 from: 0 till:0 bar:1920 from: 0 till:2 bar:1930 from: 0 till:2 bar:1940 from: 0 till:4 bar:1950 from: 0 till:9 bar:1960 from: 0 till:24 bar:1970 from: 0 till:28 bar:1980 from: 0 till:27 bar:1990 from: 0 till:19 bar:2000 from: 0 till:14 bar:2010 from: 0 till:5 bar:2020 from: 0 till:1 PlotData= bar:1900 at:1 fontsize:S text: 1 shift:(-8,5) bar:1910 at:0 fontsize:S text: 0 shift:(-8,5) bar:1920 at:2 fontsize:S text: 2 shift:(-8,5) bar:1930 at:2 fontsize:S text: 2 shift:(-8,5) bar:1940 at:4 fontsize:S text: 4 shift:(-8,5) bar:1950 at:9 fontsize:S text: 9 shift:(-8,5) bar:1960 at:24 fontsize:S text: 24 shift:(-8,5) bar:1970 at:28 fontsize:S text: 28 shift:(-8,5) bar:1980 at:27 fontsize:S text: 27 shift:(-8,5) bar:1990 at:19 fontsize:S text: 19 shift:(-8,5) bar:2000 at:14 fontsize:S text: 14 shift:(-8,5) bar:2010 at:5 fontsize:S text: 5 shift:(-8,5) bar:2020 at:1 fontsize:S text: 1 shift:(-8,5)

References

Sources