Investor scouting group from Russia trapped at ATM cave

Nancy Marin

There was another incident in the west which fortunately ended without casualties. Nancy Marin of NM Productions, a location management company out of San Ignacio, booked a river tour at Actun Tunichil Muknal in Teakettle for an investor scouting group from Russia. The group of eight Russians and one German had a series of meetings and wanted to experience the adventure of the country.  But the tour turned into a nightmare when the group was trapped at the mouth of the cave due to an unexpected flashflood. The river rose up to nine feet above normal level. Assistance was called in and after hours in the cave the group was rescued.

Nancy Marin, NM Productions

“They went into the cave on the afternoon which is usual because when we have VIPs or exclusive groups, we take them in the afternoon so that they bypass all the other tourists that go in in the morning; which is safer for the cave anyway. We went in in the afternoon, maybe around three they started going into the cave. They arrived there minutes to five and when they arrived at the mouth of the cave, their guide realized that the river was rising really rapidly. According to him, in the fifteen, twenty minutes, it rose about five feet and by the time they tried to cross again; it was nine feet above normal. So he made the call to not go into the cave. So they actually didn’t go into the cave, but they were stuck on the other side of the river. So they were stuck between the mouth of the cave and the river. And they couldn’t cross. So we called for assistance to the rescue teams and I think there were several people—BVARD, Colonel Requeña came out with his team of personnel; B.T.B. also made calls to send out people. And we appreciate…the guides from San Ignacio really came together to assist us and NM Productions really, really appreciate all the assistance we got for our people.”

Duane Moody

“Thankfully, no one was injured.”

Nancy Marin

“Yes we didn’t get any casualties. And funny enough, they thought that it was an adventure. They were impressed that people actually risked their lives to go out there and help. And they said only in Belize they would have experienced such adventure. In fact, this morning, they dared still to go on a canoe trip through Chaa Creek. So they really loved it. they were a bit scared initially, but their leader told us that Aaron, who was the senior guide with them, managed to calm them down and told them ghost stories and entertaining them and telling them about Belize. So they were calm and in good hands.”