Rescue teams have found five of seven people trapped for more than a week in a flooded cave in central Laos. The group of five was found alive on Wednesday. Lao and Thai rescue teams said they were continuing to search for two others who remain missing.
“We found five people alive and all are safe. There are still two people we are searching for,” a Lao volunteer rescue group said in a social media post.
“At 4:30 p.m. (0930 GMT), we found our target. We found five people. We are searching for the remaining two,” Thai rescue diver Kengkach Bangkawong added in a separate post.
Thai rescue volunteer Chakrakrit Taengtung posted a video on social media showing himself and five rescued civilians cheering. The footage showed them in good health and high spirits, raising their hands in the air and smiling.
Seven Laotian citizens entered a cave in Xaysomboun province last week. Shortly after, heavy rain and a landslide blocked their exit, according to a local volunteer group and the state-run Lao newspaper Phattana News.
A Thai volunteer group joined the rescue operation on Sunday. The group included a diver who participated in the 2018 rescue of 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand, an operation that drew global attention and involved divers from around the world.
Videos shared online showed that reaching the cave entrance required a steep climb of about 4 km (2.5 miles). The entrance itself was steep and rocky, and barely wide enough for a person to climb through.
No official confirmation has been given on the reason the civilians entered the cave. However, rescue worker Bounkham Luanglath from the Laos Rescue Volunteer for People organization said the cave is commonly visited by locals to look for gold, despite repeated warnings from authorities about safety hazards.
