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Injured researcher stuck in German cave able to walk with help; rescue may still take days

Associated Press
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Members of the mountain rescue service leave a police helicopter in Markt Schellenberg near Berchtesgaden, southern Germany, Monday June 9, 2014. Rescuers were working Monday to recover a man stuck deep inside a cave in the German Alps after he was injured by falling rocks Sunday an effort that police said could take days as experts negotiate a tricky labyrinth of vertical shafts and bottlenecks. A four-member rescue team reached the 52-year-old German cave researcher early Monday inside the Riesending cave system, near Berchtesgaden in Germany’s southeastern corner, police said.( AP Photo/ Kerstin Joensson) (The Associated Press)

A car of the Bavarian cave rescue service stands in front of a police helicopter in Markt Schellenberg near Berchtesgaden, southern Germany, Monday June 9, 2014. Rescuers were working Monday to recover a man stuck deep inside a cave in the German Alps after he was injured by falling rocks Sunday an effort that police said could take days as experts negotiate a tricky labyrinth of vertical shafts and bottlenecks. A four-member rescue team reached the 52-year-old German cave researcher early Monday inside the Riesending cave system, near Berchtesgaden in Germany’s southeastern corner, police said.( AP Photo/ Kerstin Joensson) (The Associated Press)

In this picture provided by Bavarian Red Cross/Berchtesgaden and taken Sunday June 8, 2014 a rescuer enters a cave near Berchtesgaden, Germany. Rescuers were working Monday to recover a man stuck deep inside the cave in the German Alps after he was injured by falling rocks Sunday an effort that police said could take days as experts negotiate a tricky labyrinth of vertical shafts and bottlenecks. A four-member rescue team reached the 52-year-old German cave researcher early Monday inside the Riesending cave system, near Berchtesgaden in Germany’s southeastern corner, police said. (AP Photo/Markus Leitner,/Bayerisches Rotes Kreuz) MANDATORY CREDIT - EDITORIAL USE ONLY (The Associated Press)

Germany's mountain rescue service says an injured researcher stuck deep inside an Alpine cave on the Austrian border is able to walk with help, but an operation to bring him out may still take several days.

The rescue service said Tuesday that a six-member team of experts from Germany, Austria and Switzerland is now with the patient, who is conscious.

The 52-year-old German was hit by falling rocks early Sunday in the Riesending cave system near Berchtesgaden.

The accident happened some 6,000 meters (3 ¾ miles) from the entrance. Access to the site nearly 1,000 meters underground requires covering tricky terrain such as vertical shafts and squeezing through narrow passages.

The rescue service has set up a radio-based communication system that allows rescuers to send text messages to the surface.