IN BRIEF
- The first trapped diver was pulled from the cave late on Friday night.
- Seven men have been trapped in the cave since 20 May, with the location of two still unknown.
A rescue team successfully freed one of the seven men who had been trapped for over a week in a partially flooded cave in Laos, according to information provided by the group working on the operation. The rescue occurred on Friday, bringing hope to the effort.
The men became stranded on May 20 in a remote area of central Xaysomboun province, where they were prospecting for gold. Sudden flash floods unexpectedly cut off their escape route, as reported by early state media accounts.
By Wednesday, rescuers had located five of the trapped men alive. They were found huddled together in a narrow passage approximately 300 meters from the cave’s entrance.
Video footage captured by rescue divers showed the men covered in mud and visibly distressed. They expressed suffering from chest pains and hunger, while the other two members of their group remained missing.
In a Facebook update late Friday, a Thai rescue organization announced, “The first victim has been successfully rescued from the cave.” The post featured an image of three rescuers assisting a weary and mud-covered man across uneven terrain.
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Rescue efforts had focused on pumping out the monsoon floodwaters that trapped the men.
“One person has got out of the cave safely,” Thai rescue team member Kengkard Bonggawong said in a separate Facebook post.
“We will assess the other four, and we will hunt for the other two tomorrow.”
Earlier in the day, Thai rescue teams were rehearsing extraction procedures outside the cave with stretchers, ropes and cables, according to images shared on social media.
Laos’s meteorology office forecast thunderstorms on Friday afternoon and evening, with rainfall expected across 60 per cent of Xaysomboun province.
Meanwhile, a new team of specialist divers touched down in Laos on Friday, including members from Thailand, France, Indonesia and Australia, according to Thai rescuers.
The emergency echoes the 2018 case of the Thai youth football team, which spent 18 days trapped in a cave in Thailand’s north before a daring international rescue saved their lives.
Two divers involved in that retrieval of 12 young footballers and their coach are working with Laotian volunteers after locals requested specialist personnel and equipment.
Finnish diver Mikko Paasi, part of the team that saved the ‘Wild Boars’ football team in Thailand, said on Wednesday that rescuers were “racing against time” inside the cave.
Rain the following day sent more soil and water into the cave, according to a Laotian logistics staffer for a firm supplying vehicles to support the rescue operation.
The man said on Thursday the rescue operation could stretch to “a few more days” if rains continued, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fears of reprisal from his employer.
Laos local media reported several rescue workers had shown signs of exhaustion after spending seven to 10 hours at a time inside the cave system carrying oxygen tanks, rescue equipment and supplies.
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