Jintamas Saksornchai and Grant Peck
Rescue divers in Laos on Friday night safely evacuated the first of five local villagers who had been trapped in a cave for more than a week by floodwaters.
Lao and Thai rescue workers posted the news on social media, along with a video showing the first rescued villager with a lamp strapped to his forehead. The villager, who was not immediately identified, was walking unsteadily with the assistance of two men. They handed him over to other team members amid a waiting crowd for a medical check.
The five men had been found by divers on Wednesday, but that left rescue workers with two serious tasks: extricating the five and finding two more who are still missing.
“Efforts will continue ’til sunrise,” a member of the rescue team said.
Rescue teams had pumped water out of the flooded cave’s passages on Friday, but an overnight rainstorm complicated their work.
The trapped men have already been supplied with water, soft food, and foil blankets to keep them warm.
The villagers had reportedly entered the cave last week to look for valuable minerals before being trapped by flash flooding that blocked their way out.
One other villager escaped in time and alerted the authorities to the seven left behind.
