It’s a race against time in Laos, where seven people have been stuck for a week inside a flooded cave in total darkness. A group of special divers, many of whom participated in the spectacular rescue of the young footballers in Thailand in 2018, have joined the rescue operation in the hope of rescuing the group.
Trapped in the cave
The cave is located in the province of Xaisomboun, northeast of the capital Vientiane. According to the state news agency Laophattana, the seven hikers entered the cave on May 20, in search of gold and wild animals, but then were unable to get out due to rain and landslides that blocked the entrance.
Rescue operations
Local authorities and residents immediately started pumping water out of the cavity, but emergency teams have not yet managed to reach the group. “We still don’t know if they are alive,” Bounkham Luanglat, head of a rescue association, told AFP. “There are around 100 people currently involved in operations on the field.” Among them are two Thai rescuers and a Finnish expert living in the region, who participated in the 2018 rescue of the football team trapped in Tham Luang, northern Thailand. The boys and their coach emerged 18 days later, at the end of a mission that captured the world’s attention, with nearly 10,000 local and international volunteers working tirelessly.
Difficult mission
Over the weekend, the Lao team appealed to their Thai colleagues and neighboring countries for support, particularly for specialized equipment (water pumps, generators and thermal imaging cameras) to pinpoint the location of trapped people. “The mission is difficult because of the rain – said Thai rescuer Chakkit Taengtan in a video published on his Facebook page on Sunday -. We had to turn back because the water level was rising”. Located in a remote area of Xaisomboun province, the cave extends deep underground and, according to technicians on site, villagers could be trapped more than 100 meters from the entrance.