Rescue of injured spelunker from Italian cave clears a difficult passage on Day 4

MILAN (AP) — The operation to transport an injured spelunker out of a cave in northern Italy cleared a difficult passage Tuesday to leave the uncharted part of the Bueno Fonteno cave and enter the main tunnel, rescue officials said.

The operation, now in its fourth day, was expected to continue at least another day and a half. Rescuers rested every 90 minutes to check on the condition of Ottavia Piana, 32, who suffered multiple fractures when she fell 5 meters (13 feet) while exploring an uncharted part of the cave on Saturday.

It was her second time in 17 months to be rescued from the cave near Lago d’Iseo northeast of Bergamo, rescue officials confirmed.

Video showed her wrapped in blankets and strapped to a stretcher being passed through narrow passageways by a team of helmeted rescuers. Doctors said she had fractures to her face, ribs and knee.

More than 120 technicians have been assisting in the round-the-clock operation since members of her team alerted authorities Saturday evening that she was trapped.

This image released Monday, Dec. 16, 2024 by the Italian Soccorso Alpino (Alpine Rescue) shows the rescue operation of Ottavia Piana, a caver blocked in a deep inside the Bueno Fonteno cave, near Bergamo, Italy, after falling some 5 meters (16 feet) Saturday evening during an expedition. (Soccorso Alpino via AP)

This image released Monday, Dec. 16, 2024 by the Italian Soccorso Alpino (Alpine Rescue) shows the rescue operation of Ottavia Piana, a caver blocked in a deep inside the Bueno Fonteno cave, near Bergamo, Italy, after falling some 5 meters (16 feet) Saturday evening during an expedition. (Soccorso Alpino via AP )

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian People’s Party on Sunday nominated its General Secretary Christian Stocker as interim leader after the expected resignation of Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Austrian news agency APA reported.

Nehammer announced Saturday he would resign in the next few days after coalition talks with the Social Democrats collapsed.

Stocker, a lawyer and member of the Austrian Parliament, has served as general secretary of the People’s Party since 2022. He is seen as an experienced and calm crisis communicator who has frequently appeared in Austrian media to defend controversial decisions.

Protected by special police forces, Nehammer walked across the square from the Chancellery toward the president’s office in Vienna.

“What is important for me is that the way of stability and the center can be continued,” he said.

The 52-year-old Nehammer became chancellor and conservative party leader in 2021, after his predecessor Sebastian Kurz was forced to stand down following allegations of corruption.

In April 2022, Nehammer became the first European leader to visit Moscow and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine in February that year. Before going to Moscow, he also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen will make a public statement to announce the next steps once the meeting with Nehammer is over.

FILE - Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer attends a press conference in Vienna on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)