The leader of the group of volunteers from Thailand, who are helping to rescue seven people trapped in a cave in Laos, said this Thursday (28) that more oxygen cylinders will be needed to complete the mission.
The seven Laotian citizens entered the cave, located in the province of Xaisomboun, in the center of the country, on Tuesday (19), in search of gold, but a landslide caused by heavy rain blocked their exit, according to a group of volunteers and the state news agency Lao Phattha News.
Five of them, but none have been rescued from the cave chambers to date.
“We need to borrow as many oxygen cylinders as possible and want to install an oxygen refill station in front of the cave,” Kengkard Bongkawong wrote on social media.
Groups of volunteers gave differing accounts of how many men were located.
Thai rescuers said on Wednesday (27) that, while the Lao organization “Volunteer Rescue for People” said all seven had been located and were safe.
The information could not be immediately verified.
Thai volunteers joined the rescue operation on Sunday, including a diver who took part in the 2018 rescue of 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand.
This operation attracted worldwide attention and involved British and foreign divers, the American military and other international organizations.
Rescue risks
Rescue will likely be a challenge. To reach those trapped, rescuers had to travel through a 340-meter tunnel, according to the Metta Tham Kalasin Command and Control Center (MTK), one of the groups coordinating the rescue.
Some areas of the tunnel, completely dark and partially flooded, appear very narrow, about 58 centimeters wide. One of the rescuers reported that, at one point, he needed to remove his equipment to be able to pass and reach the next area of the cave.
The event was launched amid adverse weather conditions. Rescuers previously told CNN that more than 100 people took part in the operation, including 15 experienced divers and experts who helped in the dramatic rescue of a youth football team from the cave in Thailand in 2018.
Arnold Dix, a geologist and disaster rescue expert who led the operation to save 41 Indian miners from a collapsed tunnel in 2023, warned that rescues of this kind are inherently risky.
He said that after seven days inside the cave, the risk of illness among inmates is increasing.
Conditions are also very difficult for rescuers, who must fear being surprised by a strong current inside the tunnels, he added.
“My hearts go out to the rescuers who are there in Laos right now. I hope they are successful, but I also hope they don’t die in the process,” Dix told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday (27).
Helmets, breathing masks and gas monitors are being used to monitor oxygen and toxic gas levels in the narrow cave system.
A video recorded inside the cave, posted on a Thai rescuer’s Facebook page, shows the men moving around in dark, almost completely flooded caves. Efforts are being made to pump water out of the tunnels to facilitate access.
Outside the cave, a team of climbers was sent on a rappelling mission to look for possible routes to reach residents from four shafts that had been identified in the mountain above the cave, the group said.
A CNN contacted the Laos Ministry of Foreign Affairs to obtain a position.
The Southeast Asian country is a one-party communist state that closely monitors the release of information.
Weather conditions are crucial
The rescue operation is taking place in a mountainous area near Long Tieng, known for its extensive valleys and rich mineral reserves.
The cave is a limestone structure located at the foot of a mining area. A combination of underground waterways and “complex meteorological structures” increases the danger during the rainy season, state media outlet Lao Phattana News reported.
Rescue group MTK called the weather conditions “fortunate” on Tuesday (26), given the absence of rain for two consecutive days despite the monsoon season.
However, the weather could worsen, with intermittent thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening over the next few days, according to the CNN Weather.
