Rescuers free 4 men trapped in Laos cave after 10 days
Four villagers safely evacuated from flooded cave; two people still missing after group entered seeking minerals.
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Rescue workers in Laos successfully evacuated four villagers from a flooded cave Saturday, a day after freeing the first of five survivors trapped there for 10 days. Two people remain unlocated.
The seven villagers entered the cave last week to look for valuable minerals before flash flooding blocked their exit. One person escaped and alerted authorities; five were found alive Wednesday. Teams from Laos, Thailand, Japan, and Malaysia are conducting the operation, joined by Indonesian, French, and Australian specialists—many of whom worked on the 2018 cave rescue of 12 Thai schoolboys and their soccer coach.
Rescuers evacuated the first survivor Friday, an operation that took about 30 minutes. Video showed him emerging from the water alongside a diver, struggling through a narrow flooded passage and walking unsteadily with assistance. Rescuers noted his hands were injured. He was wrapped in a foil blanket after exiting.
The men were supplied with water, soft food, and foil blankets during their time trapped, though videos from inside the cave showed their conditions continued to deteriorate. Teams are working to drain more water from the cave as they continue searching for the two missing.