Published: July 21, 2008 02:24 pm      

Teen trapped in cave, rescued

West Fork, Ark. — (AP) — A 17-year-old girl was rescued Saturday morning after spending about 17 hours trapped in a cold, dark cave at Devil’s Den State Park.

Bianca Calloway of Van Buren was with friends at the park in northwest Arkansas on Friday, when she apparently fell about 2 p.m. in a crevice toward the back of the cave, said Capt. Dave Johnson of Central Emergency Medical Services in Fayetteville.

Johnson said Calloway was rescued about 7:30 a.m. Saturday, and didn’t appear to have any life-threatening injuries. She was taken to a hospital in Fayetteville.

Johnson said the teenager was stuck between two rocks and it was difficult for rescuers to get to her. They could talk with her and kept a crew member with her throughout the ordeal, however.

With temperatures near 50 degrees in the cave, they got blankets to her and used a hair dryer to keep her warm, The Morning News in Springdale reported. Rescuers used airbags, ropes, and pulleys in their effort, plus power tools to break the rock around her. A helicopter waited on standby to carry her to the hospital.

Calloway was at the park with a group of friends from the Community Bible Church in Fort Smith. It was Calloway’s first venture into a cave, her friend told the newspaper.

When she fell, her friends tried to pull her out but couldn’t. They went to find help and ran into Nathan Crane, a University of Oklahoma student visiting the park.

“I came up on the situation, and they asked for help,” Crane said. “I said I’m tall and skinny and I’ll try to help.”

He was unsuccessful, as were park rangers.

The Washington County Search and Rescue Team arrived about 5:45 p.m., and Calloway’s parents, Louis and Menchu, arrived and waited outside the cave for their daughter.

The cave, which is called Devil’s Den cave, is in a part of the park called the maze section. Calloway said every few years someone gets stuck in a cave at the park, but he couldn’t recall a rescue taking as long as this one had.