Rescuers have hauled five survivors from a flooded cave in northern Laos after a ferocious flash flood. Source confirmed the victims: two children, both under 12. Two women in their 30s.
An old man who wouldn't let go of his torch. They wandered for hours in total blackness before a search team found them clinging to a rock shelf five metres above the waterline. This is a rare piece of good news in a disaster zone where the death toll hovers near three dozen.
The flood hit without warning on Tuesday. A wall of brown water funnelled through the karst gorge and swamped the cave entrance. It carried away tents and cooking gear.
It filled the underground chambers with silt and debris. The trapped group had been touring the Tham Khong cave complex when rain turned the path into a river. They were reported missing by a ranger who saw their empty car in the carpark.
Rescuers from the Lao army and volunteer speleologists worked through the night. They pumped water from the lower passages. They drilled a small drainage hole to lower the water level.
At dawn, a diver found a pocket of air and voices. The survivors had waded chest deep through a narrow crawlspace to reach that chamber. They had no food.
They shared a single bottle of water. One woman had a broken arm, set with a strip of torn shirt. The children were hypothermic.
The old man kept saying he had to feed his buffalo. The rescue operation took nine hours. The last person emerged at 6:47 p.
m. local time. All five were airlifted to Luang Prabang hospital.
Their condition is listed as stable. The incident raises questions about safety protocols at remote ecotourism sites. The cave is part of a network promoted by a company with links to a state owned mining firm.
That firm did not respond to requests for comment. Local officials say they will review permit requirements. They say this is the third such incident in five years.
The difference this time is everyone lived.
