Rain threatens to delay search for two people missing in flooded cave in Laos

Heavy rain is threatening to delay the search for two people missing in a flooded cave in Laos.  

Crews have already rescued five other people who became trapped underground 11 days ago.

Finnish diver Mikko Paasi, one of the first international rescuers to arrive at the site in the central province of Xaisomboun, said the rain had filled the cave up to the second chamber.

The rising water level means no diver will be able to enter the cave until pumps can lower the water level.

The seven villagers became trapped after they entered the cave to look for valuable minerals and a flash flood blocked their way out.

Another villager escaped and alerted authorities.

Rescue teams from Laos and neighbouring Thailand have been working together as part of the rescue operation.

The crew was also joined by divers from Finland, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, France and Australia.

The cave is in a rugged area about 75 miles (120km) north of the capital, Vientiane, and the cave's entrance requires a steep 2.5-mile (4km) hike.

Several of the rescuers previously took part in the operation to save 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018.

Malaysian diver Lee Kian Lie said the men who were retrieved from the cave are being treated at a local hospital and are being interviewed about the challenges crews face in retrieving the final two men.

"We interviewed them about how the deeper part of the cave looks like. We will continue to search based on the information we have, and perhaps we will be able to get to the other two," he said.

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Rescuers navigated more than 656ft (200m) into the cave and discovered five chambers within the system. Those rescued so far were found in the fifth chamber.

Mr Paasi said survivors had told crews there was a narrow crack in the fifth chamber that could lead deeper into the cave.

"This was the only place that we haven't checked in the mine, where the two lost miners could still be," he said during a video interview.

"Now there's a theory that, through that small crack, it still continues, and there's a sixth chamber, which gives us hope now that, if we could penetrate that small restriction, we might be able to reach the sixth chamber and then see what is there."

Of the five rescued, one man was guided through the narrow flooded passage by an expert diver on Friday and four left the cave the next day once the water level had receded enough to exit the cave.

It's believed the men entered the cave on 20 May.

(c) Sky News 2026: Rain threatens to delay search for two people missing in flooded cave in Laos