A 55-year-old caving guide died Thursday in the caves of Sassenage, in Isère, saving a teenager from the sudden rise in water. The flood surprised the whole group.
The drama was tied in a few minutes. Sabine Lorne, 55-year-old caving guide, died on Thursday May 5 during a school outing in the Sassenage vats, in Isère. She lost her life saving that of a schoolgirl swept away by the waters.
Guides qualified in speleology accompanied a class of 5th in the caves when the flood occurred, at midday. Two teachers from the Grésivaudan college in Saint-Ismier were also in the group. The speleologists quickly undertook the evacuation of the students while they were in the gallery of the underworld, very close to the exit.
“When the flood carries away the last child exposed to the risk, Sabine goes to her rescue, keeps her head above waterretrace Thierry Larribe, c.caving technical advisor with the prefecture of Isère. She exerts a lot of effort and succeeds in extracting it. By the time his colleague returns to lend a hand, he hasn’t been able to get Sabine out of the water. She saved the child at the cost of her life.”
The body of the 50-year-old was discovered about a hundred meters from the entrance to the caves. All the students were able to return to the surface safe and sound. Two people, a speleologist guide and a college teacher du Grésivaudan, they remained blocked in the Saint-Bruno room, with a high ceiling, before being rescued in the evening.
The water rose very quickly in the gallery, surprising the whole group. The weather, rainy on the day of the tragedy, raises the question of maintaining this school outing despite the risk of flooding. Thierry Larribe emphasizes the experience of the caving guides who supervised this outing, “very qualified professionals” each counting a hundred trips to their credit in these caves.
“(The rain) gave rise to movements of water underground that are disproportionate to the amount of water that fell on the surfacehe explains. It is this disproportion that we cannot explain. In fifteen minutes, the gallery was already out of reach. It’s exceptional, we’ve never seen that.”
Especially since the rainfall was more abundant than announced in the forecasts. For the mayor of Sassenage, Christian Coigné, it is “a concomitance of unforeseen weather events that led to all of this.” Sabine Lorne, from Lans-en-Vercors, has been professional in supporting nature sports since 1989.
On the website of the Vercors monitors office, this mother described herself as a “mountain girl at heart” who “likes to explore virgin spaces on the surface and underground”.
The disappearance of this figure of speleology in Isère caused a shock wave in the environment. “I was confident, I thought they were safe. The announcement of his death was very brutal. She came to remind us of the harsh reality, (…) it is that we cannot win every time. You can’t get everyone out alive. As a rescuer, you have to accept that.”adds Thierry Larribe.
The speleologist insists on the rapid rescue of the occupants of the cave in dantesque conditions. “It was the price of effort and capital decision-making at the right time”he believes.
The Grenoble prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation, entrusted to the PGHM of Isère, to shed light on the circumstances of the accident. It should determine the causes of this sudden rise in water and the possible responsibility of the supervisors.