Updated ,first published
Bangkok: Rescuers are racing against time to reach seven people who have been trapped in a cave in central Laos since last week.
A group of villagers in Xaisomboun province went into the cave to look for gold on May 19, but heavy rain triggered flash flooding that blocked the exit, according to Laos and Thai rescue teams involved in the operation.
Some Thai cave rescue experts who took part in the dramatic 2018 rescue of 12 young soccer players from a flooded cave in a remote corner of Thailand have joined the effort, news agency AFP reported.
Footage posted online showed rescuers making their way through dark, claustrophobic tunnels – some full of muddy water.
Bounkham Luanglath, who leads the Laos’ Rescue Volunteer for People, told The Associated Press on Monday that one of the people from the group escaped before the exit was blocked and alerted authorities. The status of the seven people who are trapped remains unknown.
Luanglath said the cave is a narrow chamber often visited by villagers searching for gold deposits. He said that authorities had repeatedly warned people against entering the cave out of safety concerns.
State-run Lao National Radio reported that Thai rescuers arrived at the site on Sunday for assistance.
Kengkard Bongkawong, the head of operations for Thai rescue group Metta Tham Rescue, said the focus was on pumping water out of the passageways, The Guardian reported.
“The route is not complicated but the problem is the space. It’s so narrow that we have to crawl and tilt to pass through; also the rocks are really sharp,” Kengkard told The Guardian.
“I’m confident that they are still alive because there is still air in the cave.”
Divers have been navigating flooded sections of the cave toward the area where they believe the group might be trapped.
The Guardian reported that rescuers had reached a location about 40 metres from where the trapped group is thought to be sheltering, but persistent rain had blocked access.
Kengkard said: “The gap is only 50 centimetres wide, it’s really small, so we need to clear out the sediment from this spot first. The gap is quite low to crawl through.”
The Laos’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment. The South-East Asian nation is a one-party communist state with no organised opposition and the government often keeps a tight lid on information.
AP
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