Several survivors were rescued from a semi-submerged Laos cave after being trapped by flash floods while searching for gold. The rescue happened about a week after the victims were trapped underground. Those rescued are now in the process of guiding and helping the authorities rescue the last two remaining men believed to be trapped even deeper inside.
Foreign cave divers told news agency AFP Sunday (May 31) that they were trying to gain more information about the narrow, flooded passageways from the survivors in order to be able to devise a risky rescue strategy.
One of the survivors spoke about “waiting to die” in the depths of the cave.
The information uncovered so far was “considered substantial” by a Laotian rescue group who said that the inputs from the hospitalised men was now "being used to prepare the search plan for the remaining two people".
Prior rescues
Five men were discovered to be alive on Wednesday (May 27) as they huddled in a tight shaft around 300 metres (984 feet) from the mouth of the cave in a remote mountainous area of central Xaysomboun province. This group was among the seven people trapped in the cave due to flash floods last week as they searched for gold in the cave.
Rescue divers managed to secure the first man on Friday (May 29) as four more found their way out on Saturday (May 30). They were greeted by tearful relatives upon their exit before being rushed to nearby tents for medical checkups and food provisions.
{{/usCountry}}Rescue divers managed to secure the first man on Friday (May 29) as four more found their way out on Saturday (May 30). They were greeted by tearful relatives upon their exit before being rushed to nearby tents for medical checkups and food provisions.
{{/usCountry}}Survival underground
The five survivors has relied on simple metal cots with thin mattresses, lined side by side in their shared hospital room, state television footage revealed. They were receiving medical treatment and "in good condition", Malaysian diver Lee Kian Lie said on Sunday, as reported by AFP.
Those rescued from the cave on Saturday (May 30) claimed that they had "walked out themselves because the water (level had) been lowered". One of the four revealed that he had managed to escape through areas “where water was already pumped out”, Laotian state media revealed.
"We spent three days searching for a way out, but we couldn't find it. And it was hopeless," the survivor added. "I said if there is no diving team coming to help, there would be zero percent chance of survival. We were just waiting to die."
Japanese diver Yoshitaka Isaji revealed that the search for the last two missing men would be done a tight, inundated passage which was believed to lie beyond the area where the remaining five people were rescued from.
"This submerged passageway is extremely narrow and practically unpassable unless you change your posture. Imagine the space as narrow as a dresser drawer," Isaji wrote on social media. The muddy water was an additional barrier, creating zero visibility for the rescue team which is trying to pump water from the cave while simultaneously blocking more water from flowing in.