{"id":697893,"date":"2026-05-27T13:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/697893\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T13:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:05:11","slug":"five-people-trapped-in-flooded-cave-in-laos-found-alive-two-still-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/697893\/","title":{"rendered":"Five people trapped in flooded cave in Laos found alive, two still missing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five of seven people trapped in a flooded cave for a week in Laos have been found alive, according to Laotian and Thai rescuers.<\/p>\n

The divers are still looking to locate two more people inside the cave and plan the rescue operation.<\/p>\n

The seven people entered the cave in Laos’s central Xaisomboun province on May 20 but got trapped by a landslide triggered by heavy rain, according to a local rescue group and the state-run Lao Phattana News.<\/p>\n

A Thai rescue team, which includes divers who helped free the young Thai soccer team stuck in a cave in 2018, joined the operation on Sunday and reported significant progress.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

The rescuers cleared 15 metres of obstacles and had gradually moved towards where they believed the group was trapped.<\/p>\n

Bounkham Luanglath, of the Lao organisation Rescue Volunteer for People, told the Associated Press his crew of rescuers would keep searching for the two people still missing.<\/p>\n

“I’m still shaking. Our team made it happen,” he said of the rescue in a voice message.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Rescuers have been trying to find the people trapped in a cave for about a week. (Metta Tham Rescue Kalasin via AP)<\/p>\n

A video posted by a Thai rescue group involved in the mission appeared to show the moment divers emerged from the water and discovered the trapped villagers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the footage, the people, wearing headlamps, were sitting on a rock surrounded by floodwater.<\/p>\n

Other videos showed rescuers inside and outside the cave cheering, jumping around and hugging each other in joy after the discovery.<\/p>\n

\"About<\/p>\n

Rescuers have been gathering outside the cave’s entrance.\u00a0 (Metta Tham Rescue Kalasin)<\/p>\n

Mikko Paasi, a specialist rescue diver from Finland who has been involved in the mission, said the locals were found after “a week of hard teamwork”.<\/p>\n

“Those who say it can’t be done, shouldn’t interrupt people doing it,” he posted on social media.<\/p>\n

“What a feeling!<\/p>\n

“The task so far has been far from easy and everybody involved has done amazing work.”<\/p>\n

He said the villagers were “healthy and in good spirits” but needed more supplies to “gain strength and get ready for the way out”.<\/p>\n

Mr Paasi was one of the rescuers who aided the dramatic 2018 retrieval of the “Wild Boars” team, which spent nearly three weeks trapped by flash floods in the Tham Luang cave complex in Thailand’s north.<\/p>\n

The Laos cave is located in a rugged, remote area about 120 kilometres north of the capital, Vientiane.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rescuers at the scene have detailed on social media the challenging mountainous terrain and heavy rain that has hampered their work.<\/p>\n

Videos shared online by Thai rescuers showed that reaching the cave’s entrance required a steep hike on foot of roughly 4km.<\/p>\n

The entrance is also steep and rocky, and barely wide enough for a single person at a time to climb through.<\/p>\n

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