XAISOMBOUN — Five of seven villagers trapped for a week in a flooded cave in Xaisomboun, Laos, were found alive on Wednesday and later exited under their own power after a multinational rescue operation. The five men were located in a deep underground chamber more than 260 meters from the cave entrance, while two others who entered the cave remain missing.

The villagers had entered the limestone cave last Wednesday searching for gold when sudden flooding from heavy rain blocked the exit. Rescuers navigated muddy passages, underground streams, complete darkness, and tunnels as narrow as 58 centimeters to reach them. Some rescuers had to remove their gear to squeeze through the tightest sections.

Video footage showed the men sitting on a rocky ledge above floodwaters, wearing headlamps, and appearing mostly unharmed but severely hungry. In a GoPro recording, rescuers told them, “Don’t cry, don’t cry!” The Lao People's Volunteer Association stated the five were “alive and all safe.”

“Five people have been found alive and are safe. They have already received basic medical care and soft food as recommended by doctors,” Thai rescue diver and operations chief Kengkard Bongkawong wrote on Facebook. He later added, “If access can be facilitated, rescuers believe the survivors are physically strong enough to exit on their own with team assistance.”

Bongkawong, who played a key role in the 2018 Thai cave rescue, explained that each round trip into the cave took about an hour due to oxygen limitations and that toxic hydrogen sulfide gas from bat guano caused some crew members to faint. He emphasized pumping water out as the safest extraction method, saying, “Finding them was never enough. I immediately started planning how to get them out.”

Finnish diver Mikko Paasi, also a veteran of the 2018 rescue, wrote, “It was only brief relief, as the survivors remain trapped in the cavern. Everyone is healthy and in good spirits, but extraction is still ahead and won’t be easy.” After emergency pumping operations lowered water levels Friday night, the five men exited the cave on Saturday without needing to be carried.