Laos Cave Rescue: Four More Miners Freed After 10 Days Trapped Underground, Two Still Missing
International dive teams extracted four more miners from a flooded cave in central Laos on Saturday, bringing the total rescued to five, while the search continues for two men still missing deep inside the treacherous, water-filled tunnels.
A perilous extraction
Four more men trapped for 10 days in a flooded cave in Laos were freed by divers on Saturday, a day after the first survivor was pulled to safety. The men were found huddled together on a rocky ledge inside a chamber about 300 metres from the cave entrance on Wednesday, but rescuers were unable to immediately evacuate them due to high water levels, collapse hazards, and narrow, muddy passageways. A system of pumps lowered the water enough to allow the extractions to proceed.
Four victims have been extracted. The water level was lowered by pumping, which allowed them to get out.
The rescued men emerged covered in mud, walking unsteadily, and were wrapped in foil blankets before being placed on stretchers with oxygen masks. Video footage showed one man slowly climbing out of a narrow entrance, standing shakily and smiling as rescuers cheered.
The search for the missing
Two members of the original group of seven remain unaccounted for. International diving teams, including specialists who participated in the dramatic 2018 rescue of a young Thai football team from the Tham Luang cave, are crawling and twisting through muddy water in narrow passageways with poor visibility in an attempt to locate them. The search is complicated by the cave's 45-degree downward slope and sections as narrow as 60 centimetres.
Rescuers faced issues with the temperature, narrow areas, control of movement, and managing the panic of the survivor.
How they became trapped
The men, villagers from a remote mountainous area of Xaysomboun province in central Laos, entered the cave on 20 May to prospect for gold ore. Flash flooding caused by heavy rain carried sand and gravel into the cave, blocking their exit. One villager managed to escape and alert authorities, triggering the multinational rescue operation.
The important thing is that you are alive. Everything is fine, everything is fine, you did very well. Don't cry.
International rescue effort
A team of volunteers from neighbouring Thailand joined the rescue efforts last Sunday, and further reinforcements, including divers from Finland, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, and Australia, have since arrived. The elite team was coordinated by the Lao People's Volunteer Association. Finnish cave diver Mikko Paasi, who played a key role in the 2018 Tham Luang rescue, praised the team's work while warning that the extraction was high-risk.
- Seven men enter cave in Xaysomboun province to prospect for gold; trapped by flash flooding.
- Thai volunteer rescue team joins the operation.
- Five survivors located alive, huddled on a ledge 300 metres from the entrance.
- First survivor extracted from the cave, emerging covered in mud.
- Four more men rescued; two people remain missing as search continues.
Condition of the survivors
When located on Wednesday, the five men were hungry and cold but appeared to be in mostly good condition. Rescuers supplied them with water, soft food, and foil blankets while they awaited extraction. The men were found on an elevated ledge that benefits from a continuous flow of air, according to Lao state media. One survivor cried out in pain as he was helped from the cave, with rescuers warning that his hands were injured.
