KUALA LUMPUR - Five of the seven people trapped inside a flooded cave in Laos for about a week are alive, healthy and in good spirits, although rescuers say the extraction operation remains difficult and dangerous.
One of the Thailand-based divers involved in the mission, Mikko Paasi, said the five survivors were found in the terminal chamber of the cave after days of intensive search efforts by rescue teams.
Posting on Facebook, Paasi said the operation had been "far from easy” and praised all teams involved in the rescue mission.
"After a week of hard teamwork, we finally found five of the missing seven miners trapped in a Laotian flooded mine.
"For me and @benzscout (Norrased Palasing), we need to dive straight back and bring the miners more supplies to help them regain strength and get ready for the way out,” the Finnish diver wrote.
Paasi, one of the rescuers involved in the dramatic 2018 rescue of 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand, added that the extraction operation was still ahead and is not going to be easy.
Sharing his relief after the discovery, Paasi wrote: "Those who say it can’t be done, shouldn’t interrupt people doing it. What a feeling!”
Attached to the post was a video showing the five survivors being asked their names and about their condition, with most replying that they were fine but hungry.
Earlier, the head of the Thai rescue team, Kengkard Bongkawong, said: "As of 4.30 pm (0930 GMT), we found five people. We will continue searching for the other two,” Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, another Thai volunteer rescuer, Chakrakrit Taengtung, also posted a video on Facebook showing Norrased and Paasi with the five survivors cheering and raising their arms in the air.
Seven Laotian villagers were reported to have entered a cave in central Xaysomboun province and became trapped on May 20 after water levels began to rise, media reports said. - BERNAMA