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All five villagers safely emerge from flooded Laos cave after ten days trapped underground
Five villagers trapped in a flooded cave in central Laos for ten days have all safely emerged. The final four men crawled out on their own after pumps drained the flooded section, while the fifth had been pulled out earlier by divers.
Five villagers who had been trapped in a flooded cave in central Laos for ten days have all safely emerged, bringing a remarkable rescue operation to a successful conclusion. The final four men managed to crawl out on their own on Saturday afternoon after pumps successfully drained the flooded section of the tunnel.
South Australian cave diver Josh Richards, who arrived at the site on Friday to assist in the rescue, described the extraordinary moment. He was gearing up to enter the cave to deliver supplies and assess water levels when the four men appeared at the entrance, covered in mud but alive. A fifth man had been pulled out by divers on Friday night in a tense operation that involved securing a breathing regulator to him through the narrow flooded passage.
The men had entered the abandoned gold mine in search of precious metals but became trapped when heavy monsoonal rains and landslides blocked and flooded their exit. The flooded section stretched approximately thirty metres within a tunnel that extended some three hundred metres from the cave mouth.
Video posted online shows deeply emotional scenes as the men emerged one after another to loud cheers from the rescue team and onlookers. Several of the men fell to the ground in tears, overcome with exhaustion and relief after their prolonged ordeal underground.
The rescue effort brought together divers and volunteers from multiple countries. Two specialist divers had been making regular trips into the cave to deliver food, water and medical supplies to the trapped men. Authorities noted that some believe two additional people may have been in the cave, but divers who searched nearly the entire tunnel found no further survivors or remains.