Hiker's terrifying death as he climbed down world's deepest cave 1.3miles down

A body was discovered in the world's deepest cave, belonging to a climber who fell to his death nine months earlier with his family searching for him ever since he disappeared.

Veryovkina Cave is the world's deepest known cave, tucked away in the depths of Abkhazia, Georgia, and stretching an eye-watering 7,257 feet deep into the unknown.

The vertical drop is a whole other world with not an ounce of sunlight and is only dared to be explored by the very best of climbers.

Just to identify the cave took decades of exploration, with over 30 expeditions just to allow for experienced cavers to reach the very bottom of its entire depth.

The phenomenon was first discovered in 1968 by a group of Russian speleologists, and it sat there, mostly unexplored for tens of years.

That was until the 2000s when the Perovo-speleo team began to dive deeper, and its true measurements and sheer depth began to unfold - turning into something nobody could have ever predicted.

As a result of this mystery and extreme challenge one solo explorer experienced a horrifying death at 1,100 metres down into the cave.

Identified by local media, Sergei Kozeev from Sochi first went missing in November 2021. It wasn't until August 3 the following year that his body was uncovered by Russian cavers, who notified Abkhazia's Ministry of Emergency Situations.

When they arrived at the death trap of a cave, they spotted a rope at the entrance before finding Kozeev's belongings. It was then that they found his body, attached to a rope, roughly 1,100 metres into the cave, lifeless and alone.

Upon further investigation, they were able to identify the body using photographs found on the phone that was with the deceased.

A member of the Board of the Union of Cavers, Evgeny Snetkov, explained that they believed Kozeev was a tourist who took on the climb 'not adequately prepared' for just how challenging this cave was.

They further stated: "The deceased was a so-called multitourist, who is involved in different sports. So he decided to take up speleology, but, unfortunately, he chose a difficult cave, which ruined him."

The operation to retrieve his body was a technically difficult task, but cavers were able to take it on, with permission from the Russian prosecutor's office.

It took a collective of up to 100 climbers to attempt the recovery of the body from the Veryovkina Cave, and Kozeev was finally returned to flat ground nine months later.

The cause of his death continues to remain a mystery, with some believing it was the fall that killed him and others suggesting it was the cave's cold conditions.

It may have been hypothermia that ended his life, due to the icy cold temperatures of around three to four degrees Celsius.

As any climber lowers themselves into the cave, they're met with a maze of dangerous squeezes, pits and shafts, with each new section proposing a new challenge.

As someone drops into miles of darkness, they then have to navigate a perilous ascent back to the top, which proves no easy feat with heavy but necessary climbing gear.

With these harsh conditions in mind, it's no surprise that fellow climbers and tourists have also experienced dangerous situations. In fact, in 2008, a group of Perovo-speleo cavers, which was made up of National Geographic photographers, barely made it out alive.

Without warning, while the climbers rested at their deepest camp, they were met with roaring floods that created a rumbling earthquake sound and engulfed their entire camp.

They were left with mere seconds to escape, where one mistake could have resulted in their death.

The photographer recalled the life-threatening moment, stating: "I just thought, 'Oh my goodness. We have to leave right now. We cannot wait. If we just hang around, we're all going to die.'"

They gave their best efforts to escape as they were being battered by plummeting waters, and the flood continued on for close to 20 hours. All exit routes were flooded, cutting them off from escaping, leaving them waiting in what has been described as a "claustrophobic nightmare".