Laos cave rescue ends with some miners still trapped

The Laos cave flood rescue ended on June 6. Eight locals of the Xaisomboun Province went mining near the area when the cave flooded and ended up getting stuck in the cave. Officials ended the rescue because an earthquake caused the cave entrance to be unstable.

The group of locals went to the cave trying to look for gold. The entrance was very small, and the monsoon rains flooded the cave. One local was able to get out of the cave on his own, while five others were located together on a high rock ledge with an air pocket. The remaining two locals got separated from the group and were nowhere to be found.

Manat Artmongkron, a rescuer from a Thai rescue group, posted on Facebook, “The first one is out. Safe and sound!!!”

Local officials welcomed professional cave divers from across the world to aid the search. That’s when they found the five miners who were still together. The next day, storm water pumps were used to drain some of the water. The water drained enough for the miners to swim out.

“I was literally about to head into the cave myself when all of a sudden we heard all these cheers and spun around, and four very muddy miners just suddenly emerged from the cave on their own,” said diver Josh Richards.