Rescue teams have found five of seven trapped in a cave in Laos Story

Seven Lao people entered a cave in Xaisomboun province last week before heavy rains and landslides prevented their escape.

Rescue teams have found five of seven villagers who had been trapped for a week in a flooded cave in central Laos.

The quintet was found alive on Wednesday. Lao and Thai teams say they are continuing to search for the other two missing persons.

“We have found 5 people alive and all are safe. There are 2 people we are looking for,” the Laotian volunteer rescue team said in a post.

“At 4:30 pm (09:30 GMT), we found our target. We found five people. We are looking for two more,” added Thai rescuer Kengkach Bangkawong in a separate statement.

Volunteer rescuer in Thailand, Chakrakrit Taengtung posted a video on social media showing him and the five rescued villagers all having fun.

The video showed that they were healthy and happy as they raised their arms and smiled.

Seven Lao people entered a cave in Xaisomboun province last week. Soon after, heavy rains and landslides blocked their exit, according to a group of local volunteers and the state-run Lao Phattana News.

A group of Thai volunteers joined the rescue operation on Sunday. The group included a swimmer who played with them the 2018 rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from an avalanche cave in northern Thailandan operation that attracted international attention and involved a wide variety of people from all over the world.

Videos shared online showed that reaching the entrance to the cave required a steep climb of about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles). The entrance is also steep and rocky, and not too far for one person to climb.

There has been no evidence as to why the villagers entered the cave. However, rescuer Bounkham Luanglath, of the Lao Rescue Volunteer for People, said that the cave was often visited by local people in search of gold, despite repeated warnings from government officials about safety.