Laos: 5 people stuck in cave for a week found alive

Five people who were trapped for a week in a flooded cave in Laos were found alive on Wednesday, rescuers from Laos and Thailand said.

"We've found five people alive and all safe. There are still two people we are searching for," Rescue Volunteer for People said on social media.

The group posted a video on Facebook showing rescuers celebrating the news.

"I'm still shaking. Our team made it happen," Bounkham Luanglath, who works with the Lao rescue group, told the Associated Press news agency via a voice note.

In a separate video posted on Facebook, Thai rescuer Kengkach Bangkawong said, "At 4:30 pm, we found our target. We found five people. We are looking for the other two."

Kengkach later shared another video showing him and other rescuers hugging and cheering inside the cave. 

What do we know about the people trapped in a cave in Laos?

A group of people from local villages was reportedly searching for gold when the cave's entrance became blocked on May 19 after a landslide triggered by heavy rains and flash floods.

One of the people in the group managed to escape the cave before the exit was blocked and alerted authorities, Bounkham told AFP earlier this week.

The cave is located in a remote, mountainous area of Xaisomboun province, around 125 kilometers (78 miles) northeast of the capital Vientiane. About 100 people have been involved in the rescue operation.

Heavy rains and the rugged terrain have hindered operations, rescuers working at the scene have said on social media.

Mikko Paasi, a specialist diver from Finland, said earlier on Wednesday that rescuers had to "navigate hundreds of meters of constant restrictions, flood waters, collapse hazards and high risk of contaminated air quality" in the cave. 

Paasi said the cave was an "abandoned gold mine."

The rescue effort included Thai and international experts, including Kengkach, who aided in the dramatic recovery of a youth soccer team from a flooded cave in 2018.

Diver recounts Thai rescue

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Edited by: Zac Crellin

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