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GOUMOIS, France (AP) - Teams of rescue experts worked feverishly into the night Thursday, trying to save eight Swiss vacationers trapped underground in a cave inundated with water from days of rain.  Rescue workers pumped water from the cave in Goumois, near the Swiss-French border, with divers on hand, waiting to enter in search of the five men and three women - all amateur cavers between the ages of 25 and 30. The last contact with the eight came Wednesday night. Rescuers said their greatest chance for survival likely rested on whether they had reached a place where they could breathe within the cave's twisting passageways. ``The only chance for survival is if the group managed to get to a place with an air pocket,'' said Thomas Arbenz of the Swiss Society for Cave Research, which has 30 specialists at the site. He said there was concern the group could be suffering from hypothermia, with the French television station LCI reporting the water temperature was around 53.6 degrees. Seven of vacationers were student social workers from a Zurich college and one was a teacher. Television reports said they had undertaken the tour to help develop their ability to face challenges. The cave, some 30 miles from the Swiss border, is not deep but wends its way over some 415 yards. While considered an ideal cave for beginning spelunkers, heavy rain has filled it with water. Around 300 Swiss and French rescue workers, divers and civil defense personnel were called to the site. Experts crowded around the mouth of the cavern, located near a waterfall in a verdant forest. Alain Gehain, the head of Franche-Comte region, said rescuers were making slow progress into the cavern and were preparing for a lengthy operation. ``If we have to be there for three days, we will be,'' he told Swiss television. ``We have hope. And we still have confidence we will get them out alive.''  A first group of students from the same tour group successfully went through the cave Wednesday morning. But the second group was surprised by water, Arbenz said. ``It was foolish to say the least to enter the cave,'' he said, adding that if the expedition leaders were experienced, then they had been irresponsible. According LCI television, a local restaurant owner had warned the group about the cave conditions before they headed in. Rescuers began arriving at midnight Wednesday after an alert was sounded, said Herve Tonnaire, a regional official. Pumps were able to lower the water level by nearly 30 inches Thursday morning, but heavy rains pushed the level up during the day. The water started to recede late Thursday after the rain stopped, but late Thursday night divers were still unable to attempt the dangerous dive through the dark, narrow passage. ``We're concerned because we have no contact with the spelunkers,'' Tonnaire, the Doubs official, said. ``It's important now to stop the water from rising ... to get divers in to sound the cave and locate eventual air pockets.'' The students were one of two groups on a tour organized by Altamira, a travel agency in Bettingen, near Basel, that specializes in educational tours. Altamira director Markus Brandli told Swiss television late Thursday: ``I'm in total shock. I am stunned.''

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - A diver searching a flooded cave in eastern France for eight trapped potholers failed to find them Thursday as efforts to rescue the Swiss adventurers intensified, local officials said. Several hundred rescuers from France and nearby Switzerland searched during the day for the five men and three women caught in the cave in the eastern Doubs region since Wednesday evening after the underground water level suddenly rose. Hoping to lower the water level trapping the potholers in one of the cave's vaults, the rescuers deployed six pumps capable of pumping out 400 to 600 cubic meters of water an hour, officials said. The diver discovered pockets of air in the cave, giving rescuers some hope that the relatively inexperienced potholers, all in their 20s, had taken refuge in a large vault of the cave system at the town of Goumois near the Swiss border. But rescue teams had not yet found out where the potholers were trapped, making their search a race against the clock because the potholers, if alive, could run out of air. Officials said the cave system was made up of several large interconnected vaults and each one would have to be pumped out successively until rescuers discovered where the potholers were trapped. Alain Gehain, prefect of the Doubs region, told French television that local rainfall last month was some 80 percent over last year's levels, making potholing dangerous. ``Those who know the region's caves well are not going inside at the moment,'' he said.

GOUMOIS, France (AP) - Rescuers working to save eight Swiss vacationers trapped in a flooded cave hoped they had found a refuge inside the twisting underground passageway where they could breathe. As water was pumped from the cave in Goumois, near the Swiss-French border, divers waited to search for the five men and three women - all amateur cavers between the ages of 25 and 30. The last contact with the group came Wednesday night. ``The only chance for survival is if the group managed to get to a place with an air pocket,'' said Thomas Arbenz of the Swiss Society for Cave Research, which has 30 specialists at the site. He said there was also concern the group could be suffering from hypothermia. The water temperature in the cave was near 54 degrees, the French television station LCI reported. Alain Gehain, the head of Franche-Comte region, said rescuers were prepared for a lengthy operation. ``If we have to be there for three days, we will be,'' he told Swiss television. ``We have hope. And we still have confidence we will get them out alive.'' Seven of the vacationers were student social workers from a Zurich college and one was a teacher. Television reports said they had taken the tour to help develop the ability to face challenges. The cave, about 30 miles from the Swiss border, is not deep but wends its way underground for nearly a quarter of a mile. Normally considered an ideal cave for beginning spelunkers, it was filled with water after heavy rain. About 300 Swiss and French rescue workers, divers and civil defense personnel were called to the site. Experts crowded around the mouth of the cavern, located near a waterfall in a verdant forest.  One group of students successfully navigated the cave Wednesday morning. But the second group was caught by water, Arbenz said. Rescuers began arriving midnight Wednesday after an alert was sounded, said Herve Tonnaire, a regional official. Using pumps, they managed to lower the water level by nearly 30 inches Thursday morning, but heavy rain pushed it back up during the day. The water started to recede Thursday after the rain stopped, but Thursday night divers were still unable to make their way through the dangerous passage. ``We're concerned because we have no contact with the spelunkers,'' said Tonnaire. ``It's important now to stop the water from rising ... to get divers in to sound the cave and locate eventual air pockets.'' The students were on a tour organized by Altamira, a Swiss travel agency, that specializes in educational tours. ``I'm in total shock. I am stunned,'' Altamira director Markus Brandli told Swiss television late Thursday.

Divers were unable to get into the cave until late Thursday, after rescuers used explosives to widen its entrance. Gehain said rescuers were making slow progress into deep cavern and were preparing for a lengthy operation.

GOUMOIS, France (AP) - Rescuers found eight Swiss vacationers alive and well Friday after two days trapped in a flooded French cave, an official said. Two divers, accompanied by a doctor, reached the amateur spelunkers after they were contacted about 325 feet from the entrance to the narrow, winding cave, where high water made for a harrowing search. ``They are alive. They are safe and sound,'' Bernard Fraudin, deputy governor of the Montbeliard region, said on French television. Hot drinks and food were brought into the cave for the five men and three woman, all in their 20s and 30s. Fraudin told LCI television that a portion of the cave, flooded by days of rain, was to be dried to create a passage to evacuate the eight. He said the evacuation was expected to take several hours. The group was found after a setback in the large rescue operation that included more than 100 people from France and Switzerland. After digging a hole overnight in the top of the cave known as the Bief-du-Paraud, rescue workers managed to reach one of two cavities known to contain an air pocket - but found it empty. They had entered the cave about 30 miles from the Swiss border on Wednesday and were trapped by torrents of water that flushed through its long passage after heavy rain. The cave is not deep but wends its way nearly a quarter of a mile. It is considered an ideal cave for beginning spelunkers, but was filled with water after heavy rain. Swiss and French rescue workers, divers and civil defense personnel were called to the site and began arriving late Wednesday. Experts crowded around the mouth of the cavern near a waterfall in a verdant forest. Using pumps, rescuers managed to lower the water level by nearly 30 inches Thursday morning, but heavy rain pushed it back up during the day and more rain overnight threatened to send it higher. Divers were unable to get into the cave until late Thursday, after rescuers used explosives to widen its entrance. Rescuers worked through the night to contact the group, with fresh rain complicated the task. Seven of the vacationers are students at the Haute Ecole de Travail Social, a social-work college in Zurich, and one is a teacher. Television reports said they took the cave tour to help develop their ability to face challenges in their careers. The students were one of two groups on a tour organized by Altamira, a travel agency in Bettingen, Switzerland.

"I'm so happy this nightmare is over,'' said Markus Braendle, the director of the school, which sent two teachers to the cave site.

Evacuating them was expected to take hours. The water in a portion of the cave must be pumped to create a passage out, Fraudin told LCI television. Two divers and a doctor were staying with the trapped students. The vacationers had gone into the long, winding cave some 30 miles from the French-Swiss border Wednesday despite a warning from a local restaurant owner, French news reports said. Known as ``Bief-du-Paraud,'' the cave is considered ideal for beginning spelunkers - in the right conditions, experts said. Though it is not deep, the cave wends its way over some 415 yards. Heavy rains this week sent torrents of water rushing into the cave, trapping the students. Working through the night, more than 100 Swiss and French rescuers dug a hole from above, managing to reach one of two cavities known to have air pocket - and finding it empty. Fresh rains fell overnight, complicating the task. Seven of the vacationers were students at the Social Workers College of Zurich. One was a teacher. Reports said they had undertaken the tour to help develop their ability to face challenges in their careers.

"I'm so happy this nightmare is over,'' said Markus Braendle, the director of the school. The students were one of two groups on a tour organized by Altamira, a travel agency in Bettingen, near Basel, that specializes in educational tours. ``The tension in the last 36 hours has been unbearable,'' Altamira's chief, Valentin Vonder Muehll, told Swiss German radio DRS. ``But I never gave up hope that they were still alive.''

GOUMOIS, France (Reuters) - Eight Swiss potholers trapped in a flooded cave were forced to wait for the waters to slowly ebb on Saturday as rescue divers prepared to pluck them from a ledge where they have been perched since mid-week. ``They're dry and there's no risk of hypothermia. They're all fine,'' said Herve Roy, a doctor from the team of 300 French and Swiss rescuers and divers working round the clock to save the five men and three women, all in their 20s. Water gushed out of the entrance to the underground cavity where the inexperienced potholers were caught off-guard by a sudden rainstorm and a surge in floodwaters on Wednesday evening. They took refuge on a dry, narrow ledge about 100 yards from the mouth of the cave. Rescue teams had hoped divers would be able to get them out of the cave overnight or early on Saturday, but the water was receding more slowly than expected. Officials said they would wait until they knew the job could be done safely. ``We're only going to do this when we know it is safe for everyone, both the potholers and the rescue team,'' said Alain Gehin, a local government official at the site, near the town of Goumois in the eastern Doubs region near the Swiss border. Rescue divers have already brought food, blankets and equipment to help the eight adventurers from a social workers' college in Zurich keep warm. Frogmen returned again on Saturday morning with food and more supplies. ``The water's dropping at a rate of about five inches per hour and we've another 120 cm to go so it could take another 10 hours before we can bring them back to the surface,'' Gehin told a news conference. ``We're going to try to bring in a phone line for contact with them and with their families,'' he added. The potholers will have to don wetsuits and oxygen tanks to swim through a narrow water channel to safety, once pumping equipment has sufficiently reduced the water level in the rest of the cave. The potholers went on the underground exploit for an exam project designed to test their ``personal limits.'' The region, like many others in France, has been hit by above-average rainfall this year, making potholing even riskier than usual.

GOUMOIS, France (AP) - Eight exhausted Swiss tourists, covered with mud but still wearing their cavers' helmets, emerged Saturday from a dank cave, three days after floodwaters trapped them underground. Dozens of rescue workers broke into applause as divers brought out the first group, three young women, followed by the remaining five men. Some broke into tears upon emerging from the cave shortly before sunset. ``Thank you for the help. Thank you for everything,'' one of the Swiss vacationers told LCI television. Medical workers rushed to assist the eight weary vacationers, wrapping them in blankets. They were taken by ambulance to a medical unit set up near the cave in eastern France. They were expected to be taken to a hospital in the nearby Swiss city of Delemont, said Alain Gehin, the top administrator of the Doubs region, where the cave is located. The eight amateur explorers - seven students and a teacher on a confidence-building trip - had gone into the cave 2 miles from the Swiss border on Wednesday, despite warnings of bad weather. Heavy rains sent a torrent of floodwater rushing into the cave, trapping them. On Friday, rescuers found the eight vacationers huddled together about 265 feet from the cave entrance in one of two cavities known to have air pockets. Divers who reached them Friday reported the Swiss alive and in good spirits. They brought the cavers warm clothes, food and drinking water but were unable to bring them out because of high water levels. Rain overnight delayed the rescue. On Saturday, crews used 10 giant pumps and set off small explosives to help drain the water from the cave.

Rescuers then brought the trapped tourists to the surface with a rope pulley system that enabled the cavers to walk their way out. Each of the spelunkers walked a short distance along the side of the cave wall with the aid of ropes. Officials said there was less of a concern of hypothermia because the cavers were able to keep dry during their ordeal. Known as ``Bief-du-Parou,'' or Parou Canal, the cave is considered ideal for beginning spelunkers - in the right conditions, experts said. Though it is not deep, the cave wends its way over some 415 yards. The eight vacationers are from the Social Workers College of Zurich and had undertaken the tour to help develop their ability to face challenges.