First Survivor Rescued from Flooded Cave in Laos After Over a Week Trapped

A team of professional divers said they rescued a man today from a flooded cave in central Laos, where four others remain trapped and two are still missing. Reuters reports that seven Laotian nationals had entered the cave in Xaisomboun Province to explore for gold, but their exit was blocked, leaving them trapped for over a week. Video footage shows rescue workers guiding a mud-covered man wearing a headlamp out of the narrow cave entrance. The rescue team stated in a Facebook post that it took about 37 minutes to guide the man through the passage to safety. The rescue team said they had suspended operations for the night while assessing the condition of the remaining four who have been located, and plan to resume the search for the final two missing individuals. The rescue team noted on Facebook that a volunteer team from neighboring Thailand joined the rescue effort on the 24th, and further reinforcements are expected to arrive today, including personnel from France, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Australia. Kengkard Bongkawong, a Thai cave diver participating in the mission, stated in a Facebook post today that the health of the survivors is deteriorating while they wait for evacuation. He noted, "This rescue operation is extremely challenging because we must lead them through narrow passages extending hundreds of meters, which requires diving along the way." Footage filmed by another Thai volunteer yesterday shows the survivors sitting on a rock ledge deep inside the cave, crying with relief.