Rescue teams in Laos are preparing the next phase of a complex cave rescue operation after five Lao men were found alive inside a flooded mine cave system in Xaisomboun province, while the search continues for two others still missing.
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The seven villagers reportedly entered the mine on 19 May to search for gold before heavy rain and flooding trapped them underground. Divers reached five of the men on Wednesday after more than a week inside the mine, finding them alive within the flooded system.
Thai rescue volunteer Kengkard Bongkawong, who is leading a Thai rescue team assisting Lao authorities, said plans for the next mission stage were almost complete. He wrote in a Facebook update that rescuers were preparing both to extract the five survivors safely and continue searching for the remaining two missing men.
Kengkard stressed that the operation remained highly dangerous and technically challenging. He described narrow crawl spaces extending for hundreds of metres, flooded passages and concerns over maintaining sufficient air inside the mine during the extraction process and made an appeal for additional compressed air cylinders.
“The job is not finished. The next step is finding a way to bring all five people safely out of the cave, which is not easy at all. Safety must come first and mistakes cannot happen,” he wrote.
Thai rescue personnel and specialist cave divers have joined Lao rescue teams in the operation, including a veteran diver involved in the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue in Thailand. Rescue workers have identified floodwater, debris, tight passages and limited air supply as the main obstacles facing the mission.
Reuters reported that Thai volunteers had confirmed five survivors had been found. A Lao organisation separately claimed that all seven men had been located safely, although that report had not been independently verified. The latest update from the Thai rescue team continued to list two men as missing.
Kengkard said the rescue teams were consulting experts from several fields and adapting their methods according to conditions inside the mine. He warned against overconfidence and said the mission required careful cooperation between specialists.
“This mission is extremely difficult. No one can be arrogant or think only their own knowledge matters. We must continue listening to specialists and adapt the correct procedures to the actual situation on site,” he wrote.
Khaosod reported that rescuers are now focused on bringing the five survivors safely out of the mine while continuing efforts to locate the remaining two men, whose condition remains unknown. “As the rescue team, we always hope they are safe. Families must not lose hope either,” Kengkard added.
Pictures courtesy of Khaosod
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Adapted by ASEAN Now Khaosod 29 May 2026
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