Famous diver confirmed missing after plunged into China’s underwater Qomolangma

Han Ting, a famous Chinese diver, was found missing after he plunged into Tianchuang underwater cave in Southwest China's Guangxi Province on October 7, 2023. Photo: Screenshot from Han's Sina Weibo

Han Ting, a famous Chinese diver, was found missing after he plunged into Tianchuang underwater cave in Southwest China's Guangxi Province on October 7, 2023. Photo: Screenshot from Han's Sina Weibo

 China's famous explorer and diver has been declared missing after he plunged into Southwestern China's Guangxi Province's underwater cave, the local government in Jiudun village said on Tuesday.

Rescue teams were sent to the closed Tianchuang scenic spot, located in Du'an, Guangxi when Han Ting, an Asian diving record holder who has conducted missions for the country's shipwreck archeology and Red Army soldier remains search, had been underwater for over 50 hours. Professional underwater intelligent robots have also been sent to join the rescue teams, as Central Television reported Tuesday.

The local emergency management bureau in Du'an said that they received a missing person report on Sunday morning.

"Witnesses said that they saw Han jumped into the water at around 23:00 on Saturday, but the next morning he still had not returned," a local governmental staffer told the Hongxing News, adding that they finally decided to get help after a long anxious wait.

Known as China's underwater Mount Qomolangma, the Tianchuang underwater cave witnessed many world records.

Another professional diver surnamed Ren, who has been a friend of Han's, told the Southern Metropolis that earlier this year, Han rescued two diving trainees here on the exact same spot.

"It is difficult [in rescue] given the caves' closeness and small space," noted Ren, adding that this experienced diver was planning to make a 300-meter cave diving record while livestreaming it on October 12.

The explorer is also the founder of the Lanqi Diving club. "When there were divers missing, we would call Lanqi for help . Han is a frequent guest here," said another staffer with the Du'an local government.

According to a notice by the China Exploration and Research Society in May, Han once plunged 277 meters under the water of the Tianchuang underwater cave, setting a new Asian record and was only 9 meters away from the world record of 286 meters.

"The biggest difficulty of the deep diving challenge in this scenic spot is that no one has been to the bottom of this cave before. There is no reference data for the decompression plan and gas proportions, and the situation in the deep cave is even more unpredictable. Underground rivers, curved travel routes and the unstable rock walls all indicate that this is an extreme journey," Han's diving club wrote on social media as early as in 2021 when Han conducted one of its Tianchaung diving adventure.

An amateur diver surnamed Xu told the Global Times on Tuesday that the water at the Tianchuang scenic spot is relatively calm with fewer undercurrents. "But emergencies such as decompression sickness may occur underwater, and there are risks in deep diving."

Han is China's first all-around diving coach in Scuba diving, free diving and technical diving, according to the China Exploration and Research Society. The explorer also participated in the establishment of the domestic scientific research diving system, and is also the technical diving instructor of the famous actor Wu Jing.

He also had participated in shipwreck archeology and remains search of Long March Red Army martyrs in Guangxi.

According to the Guangxi Culture and Tourism Department, the Tianchuang scenic spot is located in the upper reaches of the Chengjiang River Basin in Jiudun village. It is developed in the carbonate rock formation and consists of four inclined well-type caves.