Scary! Sensory-deprivation must have surely set in for these yougins. Last month, after three days lost in the tunnels of catacombs that sit under Paris, two teenagers have been found and rescued successfully with the crucial help of rescue dogs, who used their scent to track them down. Police alerted firefighters on Wednesday morning of the missing teens, a search team was formed and within a few hours the boys were discovered. They have been treated for slight hypothermia after spending almost 72 hours in the cold underground burial labyrinth.
It’s not entirely clear how the teens got lost, considering only a small section of the 150 miles of underground tunnels is open to the public. But people have been known to find ways to sneak into off-limit areas of the skeleton maze, hold parties and play games. Even if you don’t believe in ghosts, those are bound to be some of the scariest days of those kid’s lives so far and there’s no doubt they’ll be firmly shaken for a little while yet. Fortunately, they have made it home safe and relatively unscathed.
The Paris catacombs, established in 1738, hold upwards of six million bodies and draw a large flow of visitors from around the world. The tombs were initially only opened for private viewings to satiate the curiosity of Parisian aristocracy with a penchant for human remains in the nineteenth century – openings only became regular towards the 1900s.
For a more fictional affair about the Paris underground I would recommend the movie Catacombs (2007) starring indie darling, Shannyn Sossamon, and pop artist, P!NK
On her first trip to Paris, a young woman hits a party in the Catacombs, the 200-mile labyrinth of limestone tunnels under the city that’s lined with the remains of 7 million people. Separated from her friends, she becomes convinced that someone or something is chasing her.
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