MADRID (AP) — Spain's Civil Guard says it has rescued an injured French spelunker after a three-day rescue operation that required 50 controlled mini-detonations to blast open an escape route through the twisting cave.

The Civil Guard says the 37-year-old man was part of a group exploring the cave in the northern province of Navarra on Wednesday when a rock fell on him, immobilizing him with injuries to his back and stomach.

Rescue specialists needed to make the controlled mini-detonations at different points in the narrow cave so they could carry the spelunker out on a stretcher from 200 meters (650 feet) underground to the surface.

The guards say the rescue was safely completed early Saturday morning. The spelunker was treated at the site and then transported to a hospital in France.