Specialist divers remain at the site of a cave in Central Laos, as search efforts continue for two people thought to still be trapped inside.
The remaining four men from a group of five villagers were freed from the flooded cave on Saturday evening, in extraordinary and emotional scenes.
Rescue teams had been pumping water from flooded sections of the tunnel for days to try to drain it, to allow the men to escape.
Four remaining Laos villagers emerge from cave
That draining appeared to have worked on Saturday evening, when the four villagers emerged from the tunnel.
South Australian cave diver Josh Richards had been preparing to go into the section of the cave where the men were trapped, to bring them additional supplies and assess the water level, when they emerged.
The fifth member of the group was rescued on Friday evening, in a daring rescue that involved putting a breathing regulator on him and navigating him through a narrow, flooded section of cave.
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Pictures posted by a Laos-based volunteer rescue group show the men recovering in a health clinic, following emotional reunions with family.
The men can be seen smiling and in good spirits, while sitting upright in their beds and receiving fluids through intravenous drips.
The social media post said the men were visited by local officials, as well as members of the diving team that helped them to get out.
The men were seen smiling and in good spirits in hospital. (Facebook: Norrased “Benz” Palasing)
The group of five had entered the abandoned mine in Central Laos’s Xaisomboun province around June 20, fossicking for gold.
They were trapped in the cave when monsoonal rain triggered flash flooding and landslides that blocked their way out.
They were found on Wednesday after they’d been missing for a week, when Finnish diver Mikko Passi and Thai diver Norrased “Benz” Palasing managed to make it through the flooded section of the cave.
Both men worked on the 2018 rescue of a Thai junior soccer team that captivated global attention.
Search ongoing
However, some believe that two other men may still be stuck in the cave.
In a video message recorded from the cave mouth, Mr Richards said the rescued villagers provided a map of the cave that indicated there was a passage beyond where they were found.
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The men were found in a chamber of the cave about 350 metres from the mouth.
Mr Richards said he and the other specialist divers had been asked to provide support.
“We now know there’s a passage beyond … it sounds like it’s even tighter and more unpleasant than what Mikko and Benz had been diving through to previously,” he said.
“We’re potentially heading in at some stage to try and support and try and search for these two missing miners.
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“From what we know there is a significant air pocket that is considerably further on, another 100 metres or so through fairly lethal passage.
“The only place they could still be would be there … so we are potentially going to be pushing through to try and provide support and see if we can search the remaining tunnel.”
Heavy rainfall on Saturday may have inundated sections of the cave that had previously been drained, making any search effort today highly complex and dangerous.
Rescuers stand under torchlight near the entrance of the cave. (Supplied: Josh Richards)
A caving team is in the tunnel now, assessing the water level while specialist divers plan the search.
If the two villagers believed to be in the cave survived the initial flooding event, they would have needed to survive more than 10 days underground.
Villagers who do enter these tunnels fossicking for gold often do so prepared for several days at a time, because of the difficulty getting in and out.
