Thai rescuers join race to save seven trapped in Laos cave

A joint team of 26-member Thai rescuers, at the request of Laos, have departed for Laos’s Xaysomboun province to help rescue seven Laotians trapped in a flooded cave in Long Cheng district six days ago.

The incident began on May 19, when the villagers became trapped inside a subterranean gold-mine after heavy rain caused flash flooding and a landslide that blocked the entrance.

The incident has been widely followed on social media in Laos.

Initial reports said that around 10 villagers had been hired by a Chinese mining company to search for gold in the area, for a daily wage of about 150 baht.

Three of them managed to escape before the tunnel was inundated, leaving the remainder trapped inside.

Rescue teams said the underground passage is extremely narrow and complex, resembling conditions seen during Thailand’s Tham Luang cave rescue in 2018. Some sections are only about 50 centimetres wide.

The Thai rescue team received an official request for assistance from Lao authorities and travelled through Nong Khai province to Vientiane.

The team comprises rescue personnel and volunteers from several agencies and they have prepared equipment and documents for the cross-border operation.

The Lao military has also arranged helicopters to transport the Thai team to the site of the mine, about 240 kilometres north of Vientiane.

A Lao rescue foundation posted footage showing the cramped interior of the cave, highlighting the difficulties faced by rescuers.

The rescue teams temporarily halted water pumping operations yesterday afternoon to assess the water level inside the cave, which had receded significantly, before resuming pumping efforts.

Thai PBS has learned from Thai rescue personnel that the trapped people are believed to be inside a large chamber located more than 100 metres from the mine’s entrance.

The entrance itself is only about 60 centimetres high, forcing rescuers to crawl into the tunnel. Above the chamber is an opening resembling a ventilation shaft about 50 metres tall.

Continuous rainfall remains the biggest obstacle to the rescue mission, as water continues flowing back into the tunnel, despite ongoing pumping operations.

Reports also say the Chinese mining company has deployed excavators to drill through the mountain from above in an attempt to create an alternative access route, although it remains unclear whether rescuers can reach the trapped workers that way.

Meanwhile, Lao rescue units, including volunteer teams from Vientiane and underwater search specialists, left the capital early this morning to reinforce the operation in Xaysomboun province.