Five residents of a village in the Laotian province of Xaysomboun who had been trapped in a flooded cave have managed to be rescued after a ten-day intensive operation, as confirmed by the country's authorities. Two other people remain missing.
The last four survivors, saved this Saturday, left the grotto at 3:10 PM, 10:10 AM in peninsular Spain, according to information released by the digital newspaper "Laotian Times". These four people join another villager who had already been evacuated on Friday.
Since this Saturday, specialized diving teams have been working inside the cavern, deploying new search tactics complementary to the water pumping efforts from within. A group of Thai experts is focusing their efforts on locating possible drainage outlets using nearby aquifers and mining operations.
The initial phases of the operation were severely complicated by the rising water levels due to rain, accumulated mud, the area's topography, and adverse weather conditions. All of this forced the rescue teams to continuously pump water out of the cave, day and night, to allow specialists access.
Various groups of professionals participated in the operation, including several experts who had previously been involved in the rescue of twelve teenagers and one adult who were rescued in 2018 in the Tham Luang cave in Thailand.