Man found after 34 days in cave

2005-01-23 11:41

Toulouse - A 48-year-old man has been pulled alive from a labyrinthine grotto where he was lost for 34 days, eating clay and wood to survive, police said on Saturday.

Three teenagers exploring the cave in southwestern France on Thursday found Jean-Luc Josuat's jeep near the entrance of the grotto, a 5km maze once used to grow mushrooms.

The children notified police and a team of 20 officers found Josuat on Friday, thin and weak but alive, police said. He was briefly hospitalised before returning to his home in Vic-en-Bigorre, in the Hautes-Pyrenees region.

Josuat had entered the grotto on December 18 in his jeep, police said, citing the man's account. He then began exploring the underground labyrinth on foot and got lost.

Living for 34 days in the darkness, Josuat wrapped himself in plastic he found there to stay warm and ate pieces of wood and clay from bowls, apparently the remains of the mushroom operation, police said. He drank the water of the grotto.

Josuat's wife Ginou said her husband had lost 18kg during the drama but added that extra weight he had put on in recent months likely helped him to survive.

- AP