BANGKOK (AP) — Continuing rainfall may postpone rescue efforts for two individuals still missing in a water-filled cave system in Laos, following the successful evacuation of five others who spent more than seven days trapped below ground.
Finnish rescue diver Mikko Paasi, among the initial international responders at the location, informed The Associated Press that ongoing precipitation has caused water levels to rise to the cave’s second chamber, blocking diver access until pumping equipment can reduce the flooding.
According to reports, the seven local residents went into the cave system last week searching for precious minerals when a sudden flood trapped them inside. An eighth villager managed to get out and notified emergency services.
International rescue operations involving teams from Laos and Thailand have been ongoing for the past week at the remote location in Xaisomboun province, situated approximately 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Vientiane, the nation’s capital. Diving specialists from Finland, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, France and Australia have joined the effort.
Multiple members of the rescue team participated in the challenging 2018 cave emergency in northern Thailand that successfully freed 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach from a flooded underground system.
Malaysian diver Lee Kian Lie, participating in the current operation, told the AP on Sunday that the evacuated individuals are receiving medical care at a nearby hospital and recovering well.
“We interviewed them about how the deeper part of the cave looks like. We will continue to search based on the information we have, and perhaps we will be able to get to the other two,” he said.
Rescue personnel report they have explored over 200 meters into the underground system and located five chambers within the cave network. The five individuals brought to safety were discovered in the fifth chamber.
Paasi explained to the AP that the survivors described a small opening in the fifth chamber that might lead to deeper sections of the cave system.
“This was the only place that we haven’t checked in the mine, where the two lost miners could still be,” he said during a video interview.
“Now there’s a theory that, through that small crack, it still continues, and there’s a sixth chamber, which gives us hope now that, if we could penetrate that small restriction, we might be able to reach the sixth chamber and then see what is there.”
The five rescued individuals were initially located on Wednesday and identified by their first names as Khamla, Mued, Ee, Ing and Laen.
The first person was brought to safety on Friday with assistance from an expert diver through a narrow flooded tunnel. The other four exited the cave on Saturday when water levels dropped sufficiently for them to walk out independently, according to rescue officials.
Online footage from Saturday posted by rescue personnel captured emotional scenes as each person emerged from the cave. Some fell to the ground at the cave opening and were embraced by workers who wept with relief. Additional scenes showed them on stretchers, covered with emergency blankets and receiving oxygen before being transported from the site.
