Rescuers Seek Alternate Routes as Two Miners Remain Missing in Flooded Laos Cave

Overview

• Ten miners entered the cave seeking minerals on May 20 and a sudden storm flooded the system, allowing three to escape while seven became trapped.
• Rescuers have pulled five people from the cave since May 27, including one who was guided out by a diver and four who exited after water levels fell.
• An international task force led by Finnish diver Miko Pase and more than 100 volunteers is concentrating on pumping and draining the cave and probing opposite passages and ventilation shafts because diving is judged too risky.
• Survivors reported a second chamber with an air pocket about 100 meters beyond their shelter and teams are preparing to crawl through very narrow, muddy tunnels to reach that area if water levels permit.
• Operations are regularly halted by heavy rain, collapse risk and extremely tight tunnels, and the search’s immediate prospects depend on continued drainage and a sustained window of dry weather.