A teacher has described the moment he thought he was going to die while trying to save students on a deadly trip to Abbey Caves. Speaking publicly for the first time, the teacher said the water inside the cave rose from about 7.5cm to neck-high within 10 seconds, pulling him under as he fought for air and tried to save the boys around him. “I was pinned against the rock with the water holding me in place. I had one hand free which I could use to help the students,” he said at an inquest into the death of one of the students, Karnin Petera. “I knew I had to try to block the river flow with my body so I could stop any student that came my way and lift them over my shoulder to safety.” A small group were stuck in the neck-deep water, one of whom the teacher managed to grab as he started to go under. Dragged down by the current, the teacher struggled to stay upright while still holding the boy.…