Extreme rescue of cave divers
—A Profile of Yan Ming, a Model Grassroots Police Officer from the Waterway and Aviation Police Brigade of the Public Security Management Detachment of the Baise Municipal Public Security Bureau, Guangxi
"Found it! There's still gas!" In the early morning of February 5, 2025, at a depth of 16 meters underwater in a karst cave in Baise, Guangxi, a flashlight pierced the darkness, illuminating the pale face of expedition member Da Zhou. He had been immersed in cold water for 7 hours, and the gas cylinder had long since been emptied.
Cave diving rescue, often referred to as the "Mount Everest of extreme rescues," has seen only a handful of successful cases worldwide over the past century. Underwater robots are helpless in complex caves, leaving only humans—people like Yan Ming. This police officer from the Waterborne and Aviation Police Brigade of the Public Security Management Detachment of the Baise City Public Security Bureau in Guangxi, with 13 years of service, is currently facing the most difficult battle of his career.
Four hours earlier, Yan Ming and two teammates had infiltrated this "forbidden zone of life." Their flashlights were swallowed by the darkness, and sharp stalagmites resembled a treacherous array of blades. They groped their way along the walls, advancing only a hundred meters in an hour. In the darkness, only the hissing of their breathing apparatus and the clanging sounds from an unknown source could be heard.
Yan Ming calmly felt the water flow and secured the guide rope to the rock face—their only connection to the outside world. When he discovered that Da Zhou's gas cylinder was empty, he immediately assigned tasks: one person went back for help, another continued the search, and he stayed in the narrow gas chamber with Da Zhou. "Brother, hold on." For over an hour, the extreme cold and boundless darkness gnawed at their very being.
Reinforcements finally arrived with gas cylinders. In the small space that could only accommodate three or four people, Yan Ming helped Da Zhou put on his gear and rubbed his frozen hands. "Follow my light!" Against the current and through treacherous bends, the group floated like moving pearls in the pitch-black cavern. When Da Zhou's head finally broke the surface, cheers erupted from the shore.
Yan Ming trembled for an hour by the charcoal fire before he could stop, but the rescue was far from over. Da Zhou's student, Xiao Zhou, was still down there, which meant the rescuers had to dive back into the darkness.
A deeper search began, which lasted for three days.
On the afternoon of February 8th, they found Xiao Zhou, who was hallucinating, in an air chamber 28 meters underwater. On the return trip, a rope knot suddenly snapped, and the guide rope became entangled in Xiao Zhou's flippers. In this critical moment, Yan Ming quickly rushed forward to untangle the rope and firmly grasped the trapped person who was about to slip away. At 8:30 p.m. that evening, the 69-hour rescue was declared a success, marking my country's first complex cave diving rescue case.
Six months later, Yan Ming traveled 800 kilometers overnight to Xiangxi, Hunan. In another cave, he found Mr. Wang, who had been trapped for 110 hours, by the faint reflection in the water. Although his own gas cylinder was running low and the carbon dioxide concentration in the cave was making him dizzy, Yan Ming chose to stay and stay with him. Five hours later, my country's second successful cave diving rescue was achieved.
Since joining the police force, Yan Ming has participated in over 100 rescue operations, saving more than 160 people. He co-authored the "Water Police Tactical Training Course," training over 6,000 people. He has given over 100 lectures on drowning prevention, benefiting tens of thousands of people. Representatives from 15 countries, including Panama and Peru, have come to learn from his experience, demonstrating that China's rescue expertise is gaining global recognition.
Now, as Yan Ming prepares his diving gear, the life-or-death moments he experienced in the dark cave have been transformed into a calm and collected demeanor. The cave remains deep, but as long as rescuers move through it, hope will never die. This hope can penetrate the rock walls and reach every waiting corner—"Hold on, we're coming!"
(By Peng Jinghui, Liu Yuhang, and Chang Shiyao, Guangming Daily reporters)
