New knocking sounds offer hope for two missing in Laos cave

A rappelling rescue team descending into a vertical shaft above a cave in their search for the two still missing Laotians heard knocking sounds again this afternoon, which they do not believe were echoes.

Thai chief rescuer Kengkaj Bongkawong said, in an update clip posted on social media, that the knocking sounds were first heard yesterday and again this afternoon, raising hopes that rescuers may be able to locate the pair.

“That is the good news, but we need more time to confirm the source of the sound,” he said.

The search for the two men continued on Monday despite heavy rain complicating rescue efforts at the flooded man-made cave in Laos’ Xaysomboune province.

Five Laotians were rescued last Friday and Saturday after being trapped in the cave when a landslide and flooding blocked their way out on May 19.

The search immediately resumed after the extraction of the five, as two more Laotians are believed to have entered the cave before the survivors and may have travelled deeper into it.

A man rescued on Friday, identified only as ‘Meud’, said in a video shared by a rescue group that the two missing men had entered the cave several days before the others and had descended much further.

The families of the two missing men continue to wait outside the cave, while the relatives of the five rescued men have already left.

Kengkaj said rescuers believe that the missing pair may have taken shelter in an elevated rocky chamber near the upper section of the cave to escape floodwater.

Meanwhile, Malaysian diver Lee Kian Lie told AFP on Monday that one team is still searching inside the cave and clearing a path after rain inundated the tunnels.

A second team “will search for a possible entry point on the other side into the chamber” where rescuers suspect that the last two men are trapped, he said in a message.

Finnish diver Mikko Paasi said on social media that rain had made some passages “too unstable”, so the search priority has shifted to some promising leads above the cave, which might connect to the chamber where the two men may have taken shelter.

“As a dive team we will assist the local climbers and stand by in case they find water and our expertise is needed again,” added Paasi, who took part in the dramatic 2018 rescue of a youth football team from the flooded Tham Luang cave in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province.

Last night, rescue teams inside the cave were unable to return at the scheduled time after torrential rain caused a large volume of water to flow into the cave system, forcing teams outside to pump water out urgently to ensure the safety of rescuers still underground.

Kengkaj added that operations were being conducted inside the cave and on the mountain above, with contingency plans in place to divert water in case of further rainfall.