One of the villagers trapped for more than a week inside a flooded cave in Xaysomboun province was brought out alive on Thursday evening, May 29, a video shared by Thai rescue teams on social media showed.
This is the first extraction after more than a week of rescue operations.
The Thai rescue team confirmed at 8:37 PM local time that one survivor had safely exited the cave.
The group became trapped on 20 May after flash flooding sealed the entrance of a cave in Long Chaeng district, Xaysomboun province.
Five villagers were found alive on 27 May after rescue divers reached deep sections of the flooded cave system following days of difficult operations through narrow and submerged passages.
They were hungry and exhausted but alive.
Rescue teams from Laos and Thailand, including divers involved in Thailand’s 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue, have spent days pumping water out of the cave while bringing food, medicine and supplies to the trapped group.
Operations have repeatedly been slowed by heavy rain, unstable rock formations and rising water levels inside the cave.
Earlier, on 29 May, rescuers were still assessing the health of the five survivors before beginning extraction attempts.
In video footage shared by rescue teams, one of the trapped villagers told rescuers he had lots of chest pain, stomach ache and heavy coughing.
Additional cave diving experts from France, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia were travelling to Laos on Friday to support the operation.
Authorities are continuing efforts to locate two and rescue the five remaining villagers still inside the cave.


