Rescue teams in a remote area of Laos are still trying to rescue two people from a flooded cave system. On May 20, seven villagers entered a cave in a mountainous area of the central Xaysomboun province to look for gold. While deep inside, flash floods submerged the exit. Fortunately, another villager was able to escape and raise the alarm.
Echoes of the Thai cave rescue
An international rescue team — some of whom took part in the complicated 2018 cave rescue in northern Thailand that saved 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach — has been working to free the villagers. Likewise, this has proved a complex rescue with the cave shaft measuring just 50cm wide in places.
The first villager was extracted on May 29, when an expert diver guided him through a narrow flooded passage. On May 30, four more villagers managed to escape when the water level dropped, perhaps thanks to pumping and drainage efforts by the rescue team. However, soon after, there was a fresh deluge of monsoon rain, and the pump system broke down. Repair work is ongoing.
Passages are extremely narrow. Photo: EPA
Rescue divers believe that the remaining two villagers are deeper in the cave and have now been trapped for nearly two weeks. With the main entrance flooded and inaccessible, rescue services are currently searching for alternative ways in.
