Rescue teams in Laos are racing against time to free four men still trapped in a flooded cave, 10 days after they became stranded, while searching for two others who remain missing.
The urgent operation follows the successful evacuation of the first survivor on Friday, offering a glimmer of hope in the perilous mission.
Rescuers are optimistic about extracting the remaining four men later on Saturday, having previously deemed them not ready for removal.
Efforts are focused on draining more water from the cave system as the search for the two missing individuals continues. Norrased Palasing, a Thai cave diver involved in the operation, affirmed the commitment on his Facebook page: “One person has made it out safely, and we will not stop until the remaining four make it home too.”
The initial evacuation on Friday took about 30 minutes. Videos captured the moment the first survivor emerged from the water alongside a diver, gasping for breath before struggling through a narrow, flooded passage.
He rose unsteadily to his feet, his hands visibly injured, as rescuers cautioned each other. He was then wrapped in a foil blanket and helped into a seated position. Another video showed him exiting the cave’s entrance, a lamp strapped to his forehead, walking unsteadily with assistance before being handed over to other team members amidst a waiting crowd.
The villagers had reportedly entered the cave last week in search of valuable minerals when flash flooding blocked their exit. One villager managed to escape and alert authorities to the seven left behind. Five were found alive on Wednesday and identified by their first names: Khamla, Mued, Ee, Ing, and Laen. It remains unclear which of them was evacuated on Friday. The trapped men had been supplied with water, soft food, and foil blankets, though videos from inside the cave suggested their conditions were deteriorating.
The international rescue effort involves teams from Laos, Thailand, Japan, and Malaysia, with Indonesian, French, and Australian specialists also arriving at the rugged site in the central province of Xaisomboun, about 120km north of the capital Vientiane. Many of the divers have prior experience from the complex 2018 cave rescue of 12 schoolboys and their football coach in northern Thailand.
The challenges facing the rescuers are immense. Thai rescuer Kengkaj Bongkawong of the Metta Tham Rescue Kalasin detailed the treacherous conditions in a video shot on Friday, just an hour before the first evacuation. A station has been established in a large chamber, accessible only after navigating over 200 metres of twisting, narrow, flooded passages with jagged walls. From there, divers must navigate a 30-metre flooded tunnel to reach the trapped men.
“To dive in a cave, there are issues with the temperature, narrow areas, control of movement, and managing the panic of the survivor, which will be difficult, but we have to do it,” Kengkaj said.
Guiding survivors with no diving experience through zero-visibility water presents a significant risk. A video showed Thai diver Norrased and Finnish diver Mikko Paasi instructing the men on using diving gear and breathing techniques.
“All the way, breathe through your mouth only. Do not ever breathe with your nose, do you understand?” Norrased emphasised during the session.
Rescuers are also preparing to extend their search for the two missing villagers. Kengkaj indicated plans to explore an area 20 to 25 metres deeper inside the cave, beyond where the survivors were located. However, he cautioned that this section is heavily flooded. “That area has a lot of water. The water goes there because it’s even deeper than this place,” he explained.
