Overview
- A group that entered a limestone cave to prospect for gold on May 19 became trapped after flash floods and landslides sealed the entrance.
- International dive teams and local rescuers located five men between May 26 and May 30 and evacuated them using staged pumping, diving and by teaching one survivor to use breathing gear.
- Search teams reported discovering a roughly 196‑foot vertical shaft above the mine and plan to rappel down it to reach chambers beyond where the five survivors were found.
- Heavy monsoon rain has repeatedly reflooded passages, damaged pumps and forced pauses; rescuers say long flooded stretches and passages as narrow as about 23–60 cm make further dives and progress hazardous.
- Conflicting accounts about how many entered the cave and a rescuer’s admission that he produced an earlier ‘knocking’ noise have deepened uncertainty, as officials note illegal prospecting may have led some entrants to leave and hide, complicating the search.