Four more men rescued from flooded Laos cave, two remain missing

Rescue Efforts Yield Five Freed from Flooded Cave in Laos

Five men who were trapped in a flooded cave in central Laos for 10 days have been successfully rescued, according to rescue officials. The four men were pulled out on Saturday, bringing the total number of freed individuals to five. Two others remain missing.

The rescue operation, which involved teams from several countries, began after the group became stranded while searching for gold in the cave. Heavy rain triggered flash flooding that sealed off their way out, and an eighth villager who escaped alerted authorities to those left behind.

Rescuers reported that the water inside the cave had dropped low enough for the men to walk and swim out alongside divers who reached them. The operation was marked by challenging conditions, including narrow tunnels with near-zero visibility and treacherous terrain.

Images shared online showed the rescued men being carried out on stretchers, caked in mud, wearing oxygen masks, and wrapped in foil blankets. Footage also captured some of them collapsing as they emerged before being embraced by rescuers.

The five freed individuals were initially located alive on a rocky ledge in a chamber about 300 metres from the entrance. Rescuers passed food, water, and blankets to keep them going until they could be extracted. Divers described the conditions as “treacherous” and reported that one stretch of passage was too narrow to turn around in.

Rescue teams are now preparing to push deeper into the cave to search for the two missing men, who remain unaccounted for approximately 20-25 metres beyond where the survivors were found.

Source: Al Jazeera