5 of 7 people trapped in flooded Laos cave for more than a week found alive

5 miners were found alive in Laos caves due to monsoon rain, 2 of them are still missing 02:28

Bangkok – Five villagers trapped for more than a week in a flooded cave in central Laos have been found alive, but two more remain missing, rescuers said Wednesday.

Villagers entered the cave in Xaisomboun province on May 19, but heavy rain triggered flash floods that blocked the exit, trapping seven people, according to Lao and Thai rescue teams involved in the operation.

Video posted by someone Thai rescue group joins mission It showed the moment divers emerged from the water and discovered the trapped villagers. In the footage, villagers, each wearing headlamps, can be seen sitting on a rock surrounded by flood waters.

They made multiple round trips Wednesday to bring food and supplies to stranded miners, Mikko Paasi, the diver who led the rescue mission, told CBS News chief correspondent Matt Gutman in a phone interview late Wednesday. He explained that the round trip took about four hours, two hours round trip. He said the diving part took 15 minutes but was very difficult. He said the rescuers were exhausted, their knees and elbows bruised from going through small passages.

In an earlier phone call from deep inside the cave on Wednesday, Paasi said he and his partner planned to continue searching for those still missing. In that interview, he said the five people found alive were disoriented and unsure of where they were, but were OK.

Other videos show rescuers inside and outside the cave cheering, jumping and hugging each other with joy after the discovery.

In his earlier meeting, Paasi told Gutman that the ideal course of action in Laos would be to pump water out of the cave so that anyone trapped inside could get out. But there are concerns about the buildup of carbon dioxide in the small room occupied by the five villagers, and it is unclear whether they are strong enough to make the treacherous journey, he said.

But in a second meeting with Gutman, he seemed skeptical about pumping water from the cave, despite new pumps installed there Wednesday. Paasi said this was because it would be difficult to access the submerged parts deep inside the cave. Paasi said they plan to give miners a test run with scuba diving equipment on Thursday to see how things go.

Paasi is among the divers who participated in this rescue operation. Complex rescue of 12 students in Northern Thailand in 2018 and their football coach. They were trapped in a cave for more than two weeks before being safely rescued.

Paasi explained to CBS News that they are working to develop an overall plan that includes water pumps and additional expert divers. Paasi said the rescuers asked for permission from the government, which takes time, and they asked for immunity in case the situation worsens.

The cave is located in a rugged and remote area in the Longcheng district of Xaisomboun province, about 75 miles north of the capital Vientiane. Rescue teams at the scene detailed on social media the difficult mountainous terrain and heavy rain that hampered their work.

Videos shared online by Thai rescuers showed that reaching the cave’s entrance required a steep walk of about 4 kilometers. The entrance is also steep and rocky and only wide enough for a single person to pass through.

The muddy pit in the dense forest, kilometers away from the mine’s entrance road, became the center of rescue operations.

There is no official explanation yet as to why the villagers entered the cave. But Bounkham Luanglath of the Lao People’s Rescue Volunteer organization said the cave was frequented by local residents searching for gold, even though authorities had repeatedly warned them not to enter the cave due to safety concerns.