Rescuers race to free seven trapped in flooded Laos cave
Rescuers in Laos are racing to free seven people who have been trapped for nearly a week inside a flooded cave in the central province of Xaysomboun. The group, all villagers, went into the cave on Wednesday in search of gold and wildlife, but were unable to get out after rain and landslides blocked the entrance. Rescue teams say the cave is now almost completely flooded in parts, with narrow, muddy passageways making access difficult.
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Officials and rescue workers say the operation has been under way for several days, with teams pumping water from the cave and clearing rocks from the entrance. They were able to remove some debris on Monday and survey deeper sections, but rising water levels have continued to prevent them from moving further inside. A survivor who escaped earlier alerted the authorities to the others still trapped, according to reports.
Bounkham Luanglath, who leads Laos Rescue Volunteer for People, said the cave is frequently visited by villagers looking for gold deposits. Rescue workers have said some chambers are only about 50cm wide, adding to the difficulty of the search. So far, they have not detected any signs of life, and one Thai rescue specialist involved in the operation said the team believed they were less than 20m from where the trapped people may be.
The rescue effort has drawn on experience from the 2018 cave operation in Thailand, when 12 boys and their football coach were brought out after being trapped for two weeks underground. Several experts who took part in that operation are now helping in Laos. Their involvement underlines the technical challenge of working in flooded, narrow cave systems where water levels can change quickly and access can be cut off by debris.
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The incident also highlights the risks faced by people entering caves in search of gold and wildlife in remote areas. In this case, the combination of heavy rain, landslides and flooding has turned a search into a race against time. The cave system extends deep underground, and rescuers say the conditions inside are worsening as water continues to rise.
What remains unclear is whether the trapped group is still alive and how much further rescuers can safely go. Teams are continuing to pump water and clear the entrance, but they have not yet been able to reach the point where the people are believed to be trapped. The next stage will depend on whether water levels fall enough for rescuers to advance deeper into the cave.
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