Five missing villagers have been found alive inside a flooded cave in Laos, but two others remain missing, rescue officials said on Wednesday. The discovery was made by elite divers from a team that gained international fame for rescuing a Thai youth soccer team from a cave in 2018.
Rescue Operation in Xaisomboun Province
The five villagers were located sitting on a rock surrounded by floodwater in an underground cave in Xaisomboun province, more than 80 kilometers north of the capital Vientiane, according to CNN. The group had been missing since May 20 after entering the cave in search of gold deposits and wildlife. They became trapped when the cave entrance was blocked by floodwaters, the BBC reported.
Rescue Volunteer for People, a Laotian nonprofit, confirmed the positive update. In GoPro footage of the rescue, rescuers can be seen crawling through narrow, submerged passageways and telling the villagers, “Don’t cry, don’t cry,” as they were located.
Race Against Time
Rescue diver Mikko Paasi of Finland said the team faced “hundreds of metres of constant restrictions, flood waters, collapse hazards and high risk of contaminated air quality” inside the cave. He estimated the villagers were trapped about 300 meters from the exit. “It’s a race against time,” Paasi said, adding that the five found appeared “healthy and in good spirits.”
Thai diver Kengkad Bongkawong told CNN the cave entrance was “so narrow that you have to tilt sideways, duck low, and crawl flat on your stomach to get through.” The dive team had to stop over the weekend due to rising floodwaters, turning back when they were about 40 meters from the villagers.
Team with a History of Heroic Rescues
The 15-diver team is renowned for its role in rescuing 12 Thai youth soccer players and their coach from a cave in June 2018, an operation that captured global attention. For this mission, they cleared about 15 meters of obstacles, including narrow tunnels and collapse hazards, to reach the trapped villagers, the New York Post reported.
Baeng, a Laotian rescuer, told AFP the cave area is “not owned by anybody,” and locals usually “go there to dig holes and look for food.”
Next Steps
Although the five villagers have been found, they remain trapped by floodwaters. Officials are working on an extraction plan. Paasi said his immediate task is to “dive straight back” and bring more supplies to help the villagers regain strength for the trek out. After extraction, Bongkawong said the villagers will be physically assessed and provided with liquid and gel food.
The search continues for the two remaining missing individuals.
