5 villagers trapped in flooded Laos cave freed after 10-day ordeal

Five villagers trapped deep in a flooded cave in Laos have been freed, ending a 10-day underground ordeal that relied on expert cave rescuers racing…

Five villagers trapped deep in a flooded cave in Laos have been freed, ending a 10-day underground ordeal that relied on expert cave rescuers racing against time to guide the group through flooded passages before fresh rains further complicated the mission.

Hugs, cheers and tears met four of the group who emerged thin and muddied on Saturday afternoon to be quickly wrapped in foil blankets to regulate their body temperature after days in the damp, cold cave.

Another man was freed overnight.

But two others remain missing in the cave complex in central Xaysomboun province, feared to have gone a few hundred metres further into the cave when they became stuck.

“Five people have now been rescued, while two remain missing,” the Thailand Rescue Diver Facebook page said in a social media post on Saturday afternoon.

One of the villagers being freed from a flooded cave in central Xaysomboun province, Laos, on Saturday. Photo: Facebook/ Mikko Paasi

So far there has been no contact with the two other men, with time running out to reach them with food, water and warmth in the cold cave chambers.

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