Rescue divers in Laos safely evacuated the first of five local villagers trapped in a flooded cave in Xaisomboun province for more than a week. The operation, conducted Friday night by Lao and Thai rescue teams, brought out one villager who was seen walking unsteadily with assistance before being handed over for medical checks.
Evacuations of the other four were suspended until Saturday because they were not ready, according to Chakkit Taengtang of the Thai rescue organization Sai Than Association. Two more villagers remain missing.
Rescue teams had been pumping water out of the cave’s passages, but a morning rainstorm complicated their efforts. The trapped men have been supplied with water, soft food, and foil blankets.
The villagers had entered the cave last week to search for gold deposits. One escaped in time and alerted authorities to the seven left behind.
A video shot inside the cave showed trapped villager Khamla pleading with divers to let the group swim out immediately. “I can’t go on. I don’t have any strength,” he said. A diver reassured him, saying water was being drained, and provided blankets and food.
Rescue teams from Laos, Thailand, Japan, and Malaysia are at the site, with Indonesian and French specialists expected to join. The cave is located about 120 kilometers north of the capital, Vientiane.
Gary Mitchell of the South & Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team, who participated in the 2018 Thai cave rescue, noted that rescuers must balance the high risks of guiding survivors through zero-visibility water against waiting for water levels to recede.