Rescue divers in Laos on Friday night safely evacuated the first of five villagers who had been trapped in a cave for more than a week by floodwaters. Lao and Thai rescue workers posted the news on social media, along with a video showing the first rescued villager with a lamp strapped to his forehead. The villager, who was not immediately identified, was walking unsteadily with the assistance of two men. They handed him over to other team members amid a waiting crowd for a medical check, the AP reports. The five had been found by divers on Wednesday, but that left rescue workers with two serious tasks: extricating the five and finding two more who are still missing.
Evacuations of the other four were suspended for a day because they were not ready, said Chakkit Taengtang of Sai Than Association, one of the Thai rescue organization at the scene. Rescue teams had pumped water out of the flooded cave's passages on Friday, but a morning rainstorm complicated their work. The trapped men have already been supplied with water, soft food, and foil blankets. They had reportedly entered the cave last week to look for valuable minerals before being trapped by flash flooding that blocked their way out. One other villager escaped in time and alerted the authorities to the seven left behind. A video shot inside the cave on Thursday illustrated the desperation the trapped men were feeling.
Thai rescue diver Norrased Palasing spoke with a trapped villager named Khamla, who urged the divers to let the group attempt to swim out immediately. "I can't go on. I don't have any strength," he said. Norrased sought to reassure him, telling him that the water was being drained, and handing over blankets and food. He cautioned Khamla to eat slowly to avoid digestive problems. The cave is in a rugged area in the central province of Xaisomboun, about 75 miles north of the capital, Vientiane.
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