College Students Die Trapped in Frigid Ga. Cave Waterfall
Updated at 4:06 p.m. ET
LaFAYETTE, Ga. - Two college students have died in a Georgia cave after rappelling into a waterfall and getting stuck under the frigid water.
Authorities in the north Georgia mountains say the two men from the University of Florida apparently died of hypothermia. It took rescuers more than eight hours Saturday to retrieve their bodies from a depth of about 100 feet.
Coroner Dewayne Wilson said autopsy results are expected Monday afternoon. Wilson said other people have been injured in the 600-foot-deep cave before, CBS News affiliate WKMG-TV in Orlando, Fla., reports.
Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson named the men as 20-year-old Grant Lockenbach and 18-year-old Michael Pirie.
Authorities say they were among 10 students from Gainesville, Fla., who went exploring Saturday in Ellison's Cave, which is the 12th deepest cave in the United States. WKMG-TV reports that the students were with a group of other Florida students in Georgia on a fellowship for Christian athletes.
Witnesses told officials that someone dropped a bag down a pit. They say Lockenbach rappelled down to retrieve the bag but got tangled in his ropes. They say Pirie went down to help but also got stuck.
WKMG-TV reports that a vigil was held Sunday in Gainesville for the students.