CNN
By Kocha Olarn, Chris Lau, Charlotte Reck, CNN
(CNN) — A dangerous operation to rescue seven villagers trapped in a flooded cave for a week continues to unfold in a mountainous region of Laos, where experts are trying to beat bad weather and deteriorating conditions that are putting multiple lives at risk.
Specialist cave divers, who’ve been squeezing through narrow, muddy tunnels at the site in the central Laotian province of Xaisomboun, say they’re getting closer to the villagers, who are believed to be inside an underground cavern.
Rescuers told CNN that more than 100 people had joined the risky operation – including 15 experienced divers and experts who helped in the dramatic 2018 cave rescue of a young soccer team in Thailand.
Here’s what to know:
What happened?
The villagers went into the cave last Wednesday in search of gold, but heavy rain triggered flash flooding which blocked the exit, the Associated Press reported, citing Laos and Thai rescue teams.
The villagers are believed to be trapped on “an elevated ledge inside the cave that benefits from continuous airflow,” state-run Lao News Agency reported Tuesday.
Thai diver Kengkad Bongkawong told CNN that rescuers are working with a map that they believe is highly accurate, and that the villagers are in the “safest spot” inside the cave.
“That’s why I believe, given the geography and the living conditions of the victims, if they are in that specific area, their chances of survival are very high – very high,” said Bongkawong, who also took part in the operation to rescue the Thai soccer team in 2018.
What are the risks?
Finnish diver Mikko Paasi is among the team of divers navigating the Laos tunnel and posted video to social media of himself squeezing between jagged rocks.
“We are still in high spirits that we will find the miners alive as they entered the mine with resources to stay sub-terrain for several days,” he wrote on Facebook Wednesday.
But he also spoke of the treacherous conditions he had encountered so far, starting with a four kilometer jungle hike to even get to the site.
“Inside the mine, you have to navigate hundreds of meters of constant restrictions, flood waters, collapse hazards and high risk of contaminated air quality,” said Paasi, who was also involved in the rescue of the Thai boys in 2018.
Arnold Dix, a geologist and disaster rescuer who led the operation to save 41 Indian miners from a collapsed tunnel in 2023, warned that rescues of this kind are inherently risky.
He said after seven days inside the cave, the risk of illness among those trapped is rising. Conditions are also very difficult for rescuers, who would be wary of becoming caught out by a rush of water inside the tunnels, he said.
“For the rescuers there at the moment, there in Laos, my heart goes out to them. I hope they succeed, but I also hope they don’t get killed in the process,” Dix told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Wednesday.
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