Laos: First villager rescued from flooded cave

Seven villagers entered a cave in Laos to search for valuable minerals and became trapped when flash flooding blocked their way out. Five were found alive two days earlier by divers and were reported to be in good health but exhausted from dehydration and lack of food. Rescue workers from Laos and Thailand, with support from Japanese and Malaysian colleagues, assembled for a complex operation in rugged terrain near Xaisomboun province. The first villager emerged Friday night after being pulled out safely, struggled to walk, and was taken for medical checks. Two men remain missing, and rescue teams have searched about 95% of the tunnel system without finding them, with hopes fading.

"The first of five villagers who were trapped in a cave in Laos emerged on Friday night, after rescue workers pulled him out safely. "The first victim has been successfully rescued out of the cave," a Thai rescue group said in a Facebook post. A crowd greeted the man, who struggled to walk and had to be assisted by two rescue workers. He was then taken away for a medical check. It is the first extrication from the cave since the five men were found alive by divers on Wednesday."

"The villagers entered the cave last week in search of valuable minerals, but they were trapped inside by a flash flood that blocked their way out. Another villager who escaped in time managed to alert authorities that seven were left inside. A crew of experts assembled to help the men in what has been a very complex mission. Rescue teams from Laos and neighboring Thailand, joined by Japanese and Malaysian colleagues, arrived at the site in a rugged area in the central province of Xaisomboun, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Vientiane."

"Divers raced against the clock, facing dark and unfamiliar surroundings, making their way through twisting, narrow, flooded passages with jagged walls. The rescue team found the men reportedly in good health but exhausted from dehydration and lack of food. Four others await rescue. Two men are still missing and hopes of finding them are fading as rescue teams have already searched around 95% of the tunnel system but have so far found no trace of the two, Finnish cave diver Mikko Paasi told ThaiPBS World."

""We don't have many places left to search," he explained. The remaining four will have to be p"

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