Belej (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: , ) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

on the

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n island of

Cres Cres is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, Krk island or from the Istrian peninsula (line Brestova-Porozina). With an area of , Cres has the same si ...

, in

Primorje-Gorski Kotar Primorje – Gorski Kotar County (, ) is a county in western Croatia, most of it based in the historical and cultural region called Croatia proper and some of it in Istria, including the Bay of Kvarner, the surrounding Northern Croatian Littora ...

. Administratively, it is part of the town of

Mali Lošinj Mali Lošinj is a town in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, on the island of Lošinj, in western Croatia. At the time of the 2021 census, there were 7,537 inhabitants, of whom 86% were Croats. The town of Mali Lošinj itself had an urban populat ...

. As of 2021, it had a population of 40. It is connected by the D100 highway.

History

In the summer of 2019, the

fire department A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...

''JVP Grada Mali Lošinj'' saved a young caver who was stuck 9 below ground in a cave near Srem, a hamlet of Belej. At 18:00, the HGSS branch in Lošinj rceived a call about a 17 year old caver, "Luka", who had become lodged in the narrow passage at the end of Nenad Buzjak and Suzana Fielder's 3 April 1977 map of the cave ''Spilja kod Srema'' (HR01994). Because of the risk of

CO₂ Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at normally-encountere ...

buildup, the fire department of Mali Lošinj was called in to provide

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

during the rescue effort, so they sent Branko Vojniković and David Badurina, who by chance met up with their colleague Saša Mandić, an experienced diver who fortuitously brought diving equipment with him. The HGSS arrived first and tried to extract him to no avail. Mandić, the author of the report and ''GSS'' member Marko Župančić entered the cave, mounting the

SCBA A self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) is a respirator worn to provide an autonomous supply of breathable gas in an atmosphere that is immediately dangerous to life or health from a gas cylinder. They are typically used in firefighting a ...

apparatus to the diving equipment Mandić had brought because the narrows would not permit a regular mask. The final was passed only by Mandić, pushing the apparatus in front of him. Only Luka's feet and part of his hips were visible, and Mandić's

sensor A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...

showed critically dangerous concentrations. Luka was had been there several hours, but was still cogent. Mandić decided the only way to free him was to widen the part of the passage above Luka's back, which he then did with his Pulaski. Luka was then able to extract himself, slowly, after which Mandić administered oxygen and the two crawled back to where Vojniković had left them.

References

External links

Cres Populated places in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County {{PrimorjeGorskiKotar-geo-stub