A rescue effort is underway to bring stranded US researcher Mark Dickey to safety from one of the deepest caves in Turkey.

Here are a few of the dramatic images to emerge from the early stages of the mission.

An operation to rescue Mark Dickey has brought the American researcher up to a depth of 2,300-feet (700m) below the ground.

A team consisting of doctors, paramedics and experienced cavers began to bring Mr Dickey back to the surface after he fell ill in the Turkish cave began on Saturday afternoon.

“Mark was delivered to the campsite at -700 meters as of 03:24 local time (GMT+3). At this stage, he will set out again after resting and having the necessary treatments,” the Speleological Federation of Turkey wrote on its official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The rescue team set off on the next leg of the mission to bring Mr Dickey to 500m below ground level on Sunday morning.

Rescue teams on Sunday in Turkey successfully carried an American researcher up from the depth of a cave at 1040 meters (3412.07 feet) to the 700-meter (2296.59 feet) mark, according to an Associated Press report on Sunday.

The rescuers will rest at a camp at that depth before they continue the taxing journey to the surface, the AP wrote.

The team of experienced cavers and medics have set up base camps at various levels along the shaft, providing Dickey an opportunity to rest during the slow and arduous extrication.

In simple terms, a Speleologist studies all aspects of caves including their geology, biology, hydrology, and history, according to Start Caving.com.

Speleologists often research how the cave is formed and how It changes – this is known as speleogenesis and speleomorphology.

“Speleology is an interdisciplinary field that combines a lot of scientific skills,” Start Caving says.

The Independent’s Faiza Saqib has more.

Rescue teams have begun a rescue mission for US researcher Mark Dickey who became seriously ill while he was 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) below the entrance of a cave in Turkey, officials say.

“This afternoon, the operation to move him from his camp at 1040 meters to the camp at 700 meters began,” Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate, AFAD, told The Associated Press.

The mission is expected to take three to four days.

The 40-year-old experienced caver began vomiting on Sept. 2 because of stomach bleeding while on an expedition with a handful of others in the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains.

Turkish authorities said there are 190 personnel from eight countries taking part in the rescue of Mark Dickey, 153 of them search and rescue experts.

The most challenging part of the rescue operation is widening the narrow cave passages to allow stretcher lines to pass through at low depths, Yusuf Ogrenecek of the speleological federation said.

The extraction is expected to take up to 10 days depending on Mr Dickey’s condition.

Rescue teams in Turkey have successfully carried an American researcher up from the depth of a cave at 3,410 feet (1,040m) to the 2,300 feet (700m) mark where he will rest at a base camp before they continue the taxing journey to the surface.

“Mark [Dickey] was delivered to the campsite at -700 meters as of 03:24 local time (GMT+3). At this stage, he will set out again after resting and having the necessary treatments,” the Speleological Federation of Turkey wrote on its official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rescue teams from Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria Hungary, Poland and Croatia have been placed throughout different checkpoints in the cave as the operation to evacuate Mark Dickey

Here are some of the latest images of the rescue:

Tulga Sener, the head of the rescue commission medical unit, told Reuters that Mr Dickey’s health condition was stable and his vital signs normal, adding that three doctors would attend to him on his way up.

It is believed that Mr Dickey will have to take significant rest at frequent points on the way out.

Explosives will need to be used to expand some of the more narrow points of the cave to allow safe passage said Recep Salci, the head of search and rescue for AFAD, with the aim of bringing Mr Dickey up on a stretcher.

Rescuers will use a “security belt” system to lift him through the cave’s narrowest openings.

“Our aim is to bring him out and to have him hospitalised as soon as possible,” Mr Salci said.