5 villagers stuck in a flooded cave for more than a week found alive in Laos, rescuers say

Five villagers stuck in a flooded cave in central Laos for more than a week were found alive, rescuers said Wednesday, but two others are missing.

After a week of squeezing through the dangerous, mazelike cave network, divers Mikko Paasi and Norrased Palasing emerged from its muddy waters Wednesday to find a cause for hope.

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There, huddled on a rock, their headtorches still illuminated, were five villagers who had been trapped, missing — unknown if alive or dead — for eight days inside the flooded caves in Laos.

“What a feeling!!!” wrote Paasi, who also played a role in the famous rescue of 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach from a Thai cave in 2018. “The task so far has been far from easy and everybody involved has done amazing work.”