Four More Gold Miners Emerge from Laos Cave, Two Still Missing

How the Miners Became Trapped

The group of gold prospectors entered the cave in Xaysomboun province, central Laos, on Wednesday of the previous week. Heavy monsoon rain caused a flash flood and a landslide that blocked the cave passages, cutting off their return path.

Another villager managed to escape in time and alerted the authorities. Rescue workers located the five men on Wednesday in a narrow shaft about 300 meters from the cave entrance.

The first miner, named Mued, was rescued on Friday evening in an operation led by Finnish cave diver Mikko Paasi. A video posted by Paasi showed Mued being guided through a narrow passage flooded with brown water. Upon emerging, Mued said: "I am okay!"

The First Rescue on Friday

Paasi posted on social media on Friday: "Today was a good day. One life saved makes all the effort worthwhile. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard for our common goal."

After the first rescue, the operation was paused on Friday evening to review the next steps. Rescue teams were completely exhausted and the risk was assessed as too high, according to Richards speaking to CNN.

The biggest challenge for rescuers was a 20-meter-long flooded passage connecting the last chamber where the miners were located with the rest of the cave system. The rock in the cave is extremely sharp in many places, and passages are so narrow they can only be traversed by crawling centimeter by centimeter.

The Challenges of the Cave System

The trapped miners had no experience with diving equipment, which was considered one of the biggest problems of the rescue mission. Richards had said he and other specialists would first try to enlarge the claustrophobic tunnels to make the rescue safer.

Water was pumped out of the cave again during the night, according to the Lao rescue organization Rescue Volunteer for People. By Saturday, the water in the cave had apparently dropped enough that the gold prospectors did not need to dive.

The four men who emerged are being examined by doctors, according to Richards. Some of the trapped miners have skin problems due to humidity and others have stomach and intestinal problems, Kengkard Bongkawong of the Thai rescue team told CNN in a phone interview.

Health Problems and the Missing Men

Two other men remain missing inside the cave. Rescuers have searched most of the cave system but have found no trace of them so far. The rescued miner Mued reported that the two missing men had gone about 500 meters deeper into the cave than he did.

When asked if he believed the two missing men were still alive, Mued replied: "I fear it is too cold in there." Hope of finding the two missing men alive was considered low. The search for them is expected to continue during the course of the day.

Several international specialists from various countries have been supporting the local rescue teams for days. Volunteers from neighboring Thailand joined the rescue efforts on the previous Sunday, and additional helpers included divers from Finland, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, and Australia.

International Rescue Effort

Some members of the international rescue team had participated in the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue in northern Thailand, where a youth football team was trapped for 18 days in a flooded cave chamber. Twelve youths and their coach were brought to safety in that operation.

Mikko Paasi was significantly involved in the successful rescue of the youth football team and their coach from the Tham Luang cave in 2018. Richards said Paasi was "completely worn out" after leading the rescue operation on Friday.

The Thai rescue unit MTK reiterated on social media: "We will leave no one behind." Richards told DPA: "Unfortunately I can estimate neither timeframe nor risks – we are taking it day by day, and the situation is constantly changing."