An injured man trapped in a Welsh cave for over two days is recovering in hospital.
He was brought out of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu in the Brecon Beacons at around 7.45pm on Monday after being stuck there for 58 hours at the weekend.
Rescue teams said the man, who is in his forties, was injured when they found him but is now doing “remarkably well”.
After being lifted to the surface, he was clapped and cheered by rescuers before being helped into a cave rescue Land Rover ready to be transported down to a waiting ambulance.
Gary Evans, the emergency services liaison officer, said: “The casualty is doing remarkably well, if you consider how long he’s been in the cave, how long he’s been in a stretcher — he’s doing very well indeed.
“He’s being assessed at the moment and we’ll know more in a short while.”
Asked how he felt about the success of the operation, Mr Evans added: “We’re absolutely delighted, we’re delighted because it was a difficult rescue and we’re delighted because the casualty has done really well considering what’s happened.”
Gary Mitchell, South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team’s surface controller, said: “To get that news that he’s finally out, he’s on the surface and being well looked after is clearly ecstatic for all of us.”
Described as an experienced caver, the man had been trapped since Saturday at around 1pm after suffering a fall.
His injuries are said to be non-life threatening, but are believed to include a broken jaw, leg, and spinal injuries.
More than 240 people have been involved in the operation, and at least eight cave rescue teams from around the UK.
Teams of rescuers had been working in shifts to bring him to safety but had been unable to airlift him to hospital by helicopter because of the weather.
Peter Francis, a spokesman for the emergency team, said the rescue was the longest in South Wales caving history.
The 74-year-old said: “This is the longest rescue we’ve ever done but we’re very pleased with the progress being made.
“The caver was very unlucky here. He’s an experienced caver, a fit caver. And it was a matter of putting his foot in the wrong place.
“He wasn’t in a dangerous part of the cave, it’s just something moved from under him.”
Paul Taylor, spokesman for South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team, said the man had gone into the Cwmdoor entrance of the caves before he fell.
The caves located near to Penwyllt are 300 metres deep, making them the deepest in the UK.
Discovered in 1947, they are also the third longest in the UK, stretching more than 30 miles.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
