Survivors guide rescuers searching for last two men trapped in Laos cave

From a shared hospital room, survivors pulled from a half-flooded cave in Laos after more than a week underground are now helping drive the next phase of the rescue: guiding teams toward the final two men still believed to be trapped deeper inside.

Rescuers, including foreign cave divers, said today they were mapping out a perilous search for the missing pair, drawing on fresh details from the men who made it out alive – including one survivor who described the ordeal as a period of simply “waiting to die” in the darkness.

A Laotian rescue group said the cave information provided by the hospitalised survivors was “considered substantial” and was “being used to prepare the search plan for the remaining two people”.

“The hope is that today’s mission will locate both remaining victims,” the group wrote today on social media.

According to state media reports, the men were part of a group of seven stranded by flash floods nearly two weeks ago while searching for gold inside the cave.

Divers brought out the first survivor on Friday. Yesterday, four more men were able to make their own way out after rescue teams had supplied food and medicine and spent days pumping water from the cave, easing the route to safety.

Watch: Four people emerge from flooded cave in Laos

Their escape sparked emotional scenes outside the cave, with videos from rescue groups showing crying relatives and rescuers rushing forward to hug them before the men were led to tents for medical examinations.

All five survivors were being treated together in hospital and were “in good condition”, Malaysian diver Lee Kian Lie said today.

Mr Lee said rescuers had questioned the men about what they saw in the deeper reaches of the cave.

“We will continue to search based on the info we have and perhaps we [will be] able to get to the other two,” said Mr Lee, who joined the rescue operation on Friday.

The four who emerged yesterday, he said, had “walked out themselves because the water [level had] been lowered”.

One of those four, identified by Laotian state media as Laen, said they were able to get through sections “where water was already pumped out”.

Before rescue divers reached them, however, he said hope had begun to fade.

“We spent three days searching for a way out, but we couldn’t find it. And it was hopeless,” Laen said.

“I said if there is no diving team coming to help, there would be 0% chance of survival. We were just waiting to die.”

The man rescued on Friday – identified only as Meud – said in a video shared by a rescue group that the two men still missing had entered the cave several days ahead of the others and travelled much farther down.

Japanese diver Yoshitaka Isaji said today’s search for the final two was centred on a cramped, water-filled passage thought to be beyond the area where the five survivors had been found.

“This submerged passageway is extremely narrow and practically unpassable unless you change your posture. Imagine the space as narrow as a dresser drawer,” Mr Isaji wrote on social media, adding that the muddy water meant “visibility is zero”.

He said teams were continuing to pump water from the cave while also trying to stop more from pouring in.

“Given the enormous risk, diving would only be a last resort,” he added.