Cave divers are carefully navigating a narrow, flooded corridor to reach seven villagers who have been trapped underground for nearly a week in a cave in Laos.
Villagers entered a cave in Saisomboon province in central Laos last Wednesday in search of gold, but heavy rains caused flash floods that blocked the exit, The Associated Press reported, citing Laotian and Thai rescue teams.
Two Thai and Finnish divers who helped rescue a boy’s soccer team from a dramatic cave in Thailand in 2018 arrived at the scene on Monday and joined efforts to free trapped villagers, state-run Raofthana News reported.
The MTK Command and Control Center, one of the groups coordinating the rescue, said rescuers had to navigate a 340-meter (1,115-foot) tunnel to reach the trapped villagers.
The group said the narrowest part of the tunnel is only 60 centimeters (23 inches), meaning people would have to crawl most of the way to reach the villagers.
Waterproof helmets, breathing masks and gas monitors were deployed with rescue workers to monitor oxygen and toxic gas levels inside the narrow cave, they added.
A video shot inside the cave, posted on the Thai rescue worker’s Facebook page, showed rescue workers moving through a dark cave that was mostly filled with water.
Footage released by Metta Dhamma Rescue Kalasin, a volunteer group, shows other members of the rescue team outside the cave guiding rescuers downstream by threading a cable through a gap in the rocks.
The Associated Press reported that members of the group alerted the trapped villagers to the authorities and managed to escape before the exits were blocked, citing Bunkam Luangras, leader of the Lao People’s Rescue Volunteers.
It is unclear whether the seven people feared trapped are still alive.
Ruangras said despite repeated safety warnings from authorities, villagers frequently visit the site to search for gold deposits.
CNN has contacted the Laos Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment. The Southeast Asian country is a one-party communist state and strictly monitors the release of information.
