Two rescued from Maastricht cave could have died from CO poisoning; Caves not safe
The marl caves in Zuid-Limburg are not safe to explore, party in, or camp in, Natuurmonumenten Zuid-Limburg said after the police recently rescued two people from the Douane cave in Maastricht. When the police found the two people in the Douane cave, they were completely covered in soot from the fire they lit inside. The police are convinced that they would have died if they had not been found and removed.
“Besides the fact that it is punishable by law, it is also dangerous to enter the caves,” Tim Koumans of the nature conservation service told 1Limburg. The marl caves in Zuid-Limburg have been very attractive to people for centuries, he said. “The Sint Pietersberg has a lot of marl caves, ideal places for homeless people to shelter during the winter. It is dry and warm,” he said. But Natuurmonumenten also regularly finds runners, adventurers, and vloggers exploring the caves. During the coronavirus pandemic, there were also raves held regularly in the caves.
Police in Maastricht were sent to the snowy location last week after a security guard for the nature service figured people had broke into a closed off brick structure which was once an access point to the caves from the former quarry. Police found the two individuals in the Douane cave. "These people were completely blackened by the fire they lit inside. We escorted them out, and we had them checked at the ambulance," police said in a statement released on Monday about the incident.
"The people had to be taken to the hospital because they may have suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning." Once it is inhaled, carbon monoxide can be absorbed by hemoglobin, which prevents it from carrying oxygen in the blood. Left untreated, the resultant carboxyhemoglobin can cause serious cardiovascular problems, including reduced lung function, and can result in a person's death.
Carboxyhemoglobin levels continue to increase for several hours even after a person is no longer exposed to carbon monoxide. Recovery time can be brought down to a few hours when a patient is treated with 100 percent oxygen. More serious cases require an individual to be placed in a pressurized hyperbaric chamber filled with pure oxygen.
"If these people had stayed in the cave longer near the lit fire, they probably would have died," police said.
It is illegal for an unauthorized person to enter the caves and underground passageways, Koumans said. The entrances are closed with “No entry” signs for a reason. “Most quarries are not safe and are at least closed off by barbed wire. The larger tunnel systems, 80 to 90 kilometers long, where you can get lost, have higher fences equipped with an alarm system.”
That applies to all the marl caves and quarries in Zuid-Limburg, but those at Sint Pietersberg are the most popular. According to Koumans, Natururmonumenten fined about ten people caught in the caves last year. But not everyone found receives a fine. “If they are homeless, then there is no point in drawing up a report. Then we usually look for a solution for these people with other care providers,” he told 1Limburg.
The caves in the marl region are also off-limits to people due to their cultural-historical value and the bat populations that live in them.
