Five Villagers Rescued After Seven Days Trapped in Flooded Laos Gold Mine Cave
Five villagers have been successfully located and rescued from a flooded cave in Laos after being trapped for seven days. The individuals were part of a group of seven who entered the cave in Xaysomboun province last Wednesday, seeking gold deposits and wildlife. Heavy rains and landslides subsequently blocked the entrance, preventing their exit.
Two other villagers from the original group remain unaccounted for, with search operations continuing. Rescuers, comprising Laotian and Thai teams, shared footage depicting divers navigating extremely narrow, muddy, and almost entirely flooded passages within the extensive underground system. Some chambers are reportedly as constricted as 50cm wide.
Bounkham Luanglath of the Laotian organisation Rescue Volunteer for People confirmed the successful extraction of five individuals, expressing relief. Specialist rescue diver Mikko Paasi from Finland described the operation as highly hazardous, involving “hundreds of metres of constant restrictions, flood waters, collapse hazards and high risk of contaminated air quality” within the cave, which he characterised as an “abandoned gold mine.”
The villagers were estimated to be trapped approximately 300 metres from the cave's exit. The area, located about 120km north of the capital Vientiane, is not privately owned, with locals frequently entering to search for food and other resources. One of the Thai rescuers involved previously participated in the 2018 operation to save 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand's Chiang Rai province.
