Trapped US explorer thanks authorities in emotional video from Turkish cave

American caver Mark Dickey, 40, talks to camera (Turkish Government Directorate of Communications via AP)

Rescuers from across Europe rushed to a cave in Turkey on Thursday, launching an operation to save an American researcher who became trapped around 1,000 metres below the surface after suffering stomach bleeding.

Experienced caver Mark Dickey, 40, suddenly became ill during an expedition with a handful of others, including three other Americans, in the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains, the European Association of Cave Rescuers said.