5 of 7 villagers trapped in flooded Laos cave found alive

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Thai divers broke through to an area where they found five of the trapped villagers perched on a muddy ledge, but two others remain missing

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Aidan JonesPublished: 7:56pm, 27 May 2026Five of the seven villagers trapped deep in a flooded cave in Laos were found alive on Wednesday afternoon, Thai divers said, in a mission that included some of the same expert cave divers who saved a Thai youth football team in 2018.

Around 4.30pm, a Thai-led rescue team broke through to an area where they found five of the missing villagers perched on a muddy ledge, after diving for four days through treacherous, narrow flooded passages seeking a way into the cave complex.

Two other Laotians remain missing.

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The Laos survivors, some crying and others “wai-ing” in a gesture of thanks, appeared muddied and thin in a video shared on social media by the Thailand Rescue Diver group.

Smiling to the camera despite the chest-high muddy waters, the Thai diver told the camera that he had found five members of the Laos group, who were trapped after floods and landslides hit the cave while they were searching for gold on May 20.

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“Everyone is safe and we will rescue them out next,” he said in the post from Thailand Rescue Diver, adding that Mikko Paasi was with him.

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