By Amarin TV and AP – published by CBC
A THAI and Laotian team today (May 30) successfully rescued four more villagers from a deep, flooded cave where they had been trapped for 10 days after safely evacuating the first one yesterday and are continuing braving freezing currents and high-water levels to search for two more still missing.
Both Laotian and Thai rescuers shared details about their successful operation on social media, along with photos of the men lying on stretchers, wearing oxygen masks and wrapped in foil blankets.
The villagers had reportedly gone into the cave last week to look for valuable minerals before being trapped by flash flooding that blocked their exit. One villager escaped in time and alerted the authorities to the seven left behind.
The first man was safely evacuated yesterday with rescuers saying that the operation took about 30 minutes. The five men were identified by their first names as Khamla, Mued, Ee, Ing and Laen.
The men had been supplied with water, soft food and foil blankets to keep them warm, although videos shot inside the cave suggested that their conditions continued to deteriorate.
Rescue teams from Laos and neighboring Thailand were joined by Japanese and Malaysian colleagues. Indonesian, French and Australian specialists also reportedly arrived at the site in a rugged area in the central province of Xaisomboun, about 120 kilometres north of the capital, Vientiane, to help with the difficult operation.
Several of them had taken part in the complicated 2018 cave rescue in northern Thailand of 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach.
In a video shot on Friday, just about an hour before the evacuation of the first man began, Thai rescuer Kengkaj Bongkawong of the Metta Tham Rescue Kalasin detailed the challenge they had been facing in the operation.
The team set up a station in a large chamber inside the cave, accessible only by navigating more than 200 metres of twisting, narrow, flooded passages with jagged walls. From there, divers needed to dive through a flooded tunnel about 30 metres before reaching the trapped men.
“To dive in a cave, there are issues with the temperature, narrow areas, control of movement and managing the panic of the survivor, which will be difficult, but we have to do it,” Kengkaj said.
Survivors taught to breathe under water
There is a significant risk for the team in guiding the survivors without diving skills through zero-visibility water.
A video showed Thai diver Norrased Palasing and Finnish diver Mikko Paasi teaching the men how to use diving gear, including breathing techniques under water.
In the search for the two villagers who remain missing, Kengkaj said the team plans to explore an area deeper inside the cave, about 20 to 25 metres beyond where the survivors were found.
However, he cautioned that the section is heavily flooded.
CAPTIONS:
Top – Video grab shows the first of five villagers, left, rescued from a cave in Laos yesterday, May 29, 2026. Photo – Metta Tham Rescue Kalasin/The Associated Press and published by CBC
Inserts and Front Page – The four villagers being rescued from the deep cave today, May 30, 2026. Photos – Amarin TV
Watch videos shared by Chae Khao Den on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2535479946922276
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