Feeling for this crew.

Rest in peace.

>link<

A Minnesota man exploring tunnels underneath Saint Paul drowned after heavy rain washed him, and other members of his group, into the Mississippi River on Sunday.

According to the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, the man and four others were inside of a tunnel adjacent to the river when a thunderstorm rolled in. Two managed to escape to the surface while the others were dragged away by rushing waters.

Around 1 a.m., the sheriff’s office received a call from someone near the Marshall Avenue bridge saying that “their friends may have drowned in the Mississippi River.”

Minnesota, and Saint Paul in particular, is a popular destination for subterranean exploration, the Minnesota Daily reported in 2017. An expansive network of tunnels lies beneath the city, some in use and some abandoned, including a 70-mile web referred to as the Labyrinth.

First responders from four separate departments arrived at the scene to help with rescue and recovery efforts, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office said.
Labor Day Sale

Unlimited digital access - $3 for 3 months
CLAIM OFFER

Authorities rescued all but one of the tunnel explorers by 4 a.m., at which point the search was put on hold until light conditions improved.

Search efforts resumed around 7.a.m., the sheriff’s office said. Four hours after that, deputies recovered a body from the water near the bridge.

The incident is being investigated and the man’s identity will be released later by the county coroner, RCSO said.

The city’s underground is an Instagram-worthy attraction and a draw for certain types of Youtubers, much to the chagrin of seasoned explorers who are often as tight-lipped as they are territorial about their niche hobby, the Minnesota Daily reported. And safety isn’t guaranteed.

“That’s where the real danger lies,” University of Minnesota Police Department Lt. Erik Swanson told the outlet. “Because you don’t know what’s down there.”

Read more here: https://www.kansas...L64Q#storylink=cpy

I feel for the families, what an awful way to go. But NOT going with rain in the forecast is rule number one of tunneling. Not smart. Not smart at all......

"The Sheriff's Office identified the dead man as Tiquann "T.J." Davis Jr., 20 of Little Canada. Davis graduated from White Bear Lake High School in 2020."

~ StarTribune

Posted by fr00tCake I feel for the families, what an awful way to go. But NOT going with rain in the forecast is rule number one of tunneling. Not smart. Not smart at all......

Yeah, when it rains, no drains.

I guess it was to be expected...
link

Posted by Doug I guess it was to be expected... link

Tragedy aside, anyone notice how many anti-exploring articles have been coming out lately? We are all collectively being cast in a very bad light. The best of us are judged by the actions of the worst of us. It's really quite frustrating.

Posted by EsseXploreR Tragedy aside, anyone notice how many anti-exploring articles have been coming out lately? We are all collectively being painted in a very bad light. The best of us are judged by the actions of the worst of us. It's really quite frustrating.

Yup. I 100% blame YouTurd fucktards and the like....

Word on the grapevine here in the Midwest was that these five had no affiliation with the local urbex community, and were in fact rookies- hence why they didn't realize that trying to run Triple Helix when thunderstorms had been forecasted for that night all week was borderline suicidal. Anyone with the slightest bit of experience in draining would've known better.

That's where a lot of these tragedies are coming from- kids and college students who don't understand the danger running into these places, not members of the exploring community

Posted by fr00tCake Yup. I 100% blame YouTurd fucktards and the like....

They've been around for a long time now (although they do seem more professional nowadays) but I get enquiries from TikTokkers more than anything... like 10 times more than normal explorers.
One TikTokker asked me which would be the best stormdrain to shoot a video in while it was raining because it would make a sick TikTok video.

I just saw an explorer's Instagram account that has 98,500 followers. I don't think those numbers are sustainable in urban exploration without tragedies like this occurring.

Posted by Aran Word on the grapevine here in the Midwest was that these five had no affiliation with the local urbex community, and were in fact rookies- hence why they didn't realize that trying to run Triple Helix when thunderstorms had been forecasted for that night all week was borderline suicidal. Anyone with the slightest bit of experience in draining would've known better. That's where a lot of these tragedies are coming from- kids and college students who don't understand the danger running into these places, not members of the exploring community

I remember getting to an age... early 20s probably, and thinking "how did I live through my teens relatively unscathed?". Now that I have kids I can see it in them - they just don't have the ability to say "Maybe I shouldn't do that".

I think there's a tidal wave (bad pun?) coming of these kinds of explorers. Continuing on from my previous comment, another thing I've noticed with quite a few tiktokkers is that they're really into shooting a short video than the explore - if you ask them if they saw the main feature quite often they're like "nah, we just shot a few videos in the main section and left".

Not sure what my point was there in the end

Posted by EsseXploreR Tragedy aside, anyone notice how many anti-exploring articles have been coming out lately? We are all collectively being cast in a very bad light. The best of us are judged by the actions of the worst of us. It's really quite frustrating.

Yeah, on one of my mine exploring videos a guy got on and wrote a scathing post about how I was endangering the lives of search and rescue personnel, and that I was encouraging others to get themselves killed as well. I wanted to ask him if he gets on sites that feature skydiving, scuba diving, whitewater rafting, snow skiing, motorcycle riding, mountain climbing, cave exploring, or motor sports to lecture them. At least he could lecture me from behind his keyboard in the safety of his bedroom.

I could go on a long tirade about personal freedoms and the risk-reward of our personal behaviors, but it's pretty obvious that all of us here are all singing from the same song-book.

Abby Normal

Posted by Doug I remember getting to an age... early 20s probably, and thinking "how did I live through my teens relatively unscathed?". Now that I have kids I can see it in them - they just don't have the ability to say "Maybe I shouldn't do that". I think there's a tidal wave (bad pun?) coming of these kinds of explorers. Continuing on from my previous comment, another thing I've noticed with quite a few tiktokkers is that they're really into shooting a short video than the explore - if you ask them if they saw the main feature quite often they're like "nah, we just shot a few videos in the main section and left". Not sure what my point was there in the end

They sound like they're learning from their elders on Instagram and YouTube.

Posted by Steed They sound like they're learning from their elders on Instagram and YouTube.

I really don't know.

I have an Instagram & YouTube account but I hardly look at other people's stuff (I've never seen a Proper People video) and they'd never learn anything serious from my accounts

I guess times are just changing (again).

Posted by fr00tCake I feel for the families, what an awful way to go. But NOT going with rain in the forecast is rule number one of tunneling. Not smart. Not smart at all......

A stark reminder of the saying
“If it rains….no drains!”

Posted by Aran Word on the grapevine here in the Midwest was that these five had no affiliation with the local urbex community, and were in fact rookies- hence why they didn't realize that trying to run Triple Helix when thunderstorms had been forecasted for that night all week was borderline suicidal. Anyone with the slightest bit of experience in draining would've known better. That's where a lot of these tragedies are coming from- kids and college students who don't understand the danger running into these places, not members of the exploring community

Triple Helix of all drains, damn. That one is literally a death trap if its raining. given its layout. Bros didn't hear that if it rains, no drains apparently