Two Thai divers involved in the dramatic 2018 rescue of footballers arrived in Laos on Monday to save seven people trapped in a flooded cave for six days.The seven people entered the remote cave in Xaysomboun province on Wednesday to hunt for wildlife and search for gold. They got trapped as heavy rain triggered flash flooding and landslides, blocking the entrance to the cave. The divers, along with a Finnish specialist who was also involved in the rescue of the footballers from Thailand’s Tham Luang cave, arrived to help with the Laos operation after videos showed parts of the Xaysomboun cave completely flooded with muddy waters.Rescue workers have been unable to contact any of the missing people since they were trapped. Crews were now fitting ropes for rescue, Kengkard Bongkawong, head of operations for Metta Tham Rescue, a Thai group, said.They had not detected any signs of life yet but believed they were getting close to where the group was trapped inside the cave, estimating they were "less than 20m away"."All day, all night, water was still being pumped out," Mr Kengkard said on Facebook.Finnish and Thai divers arrive in Laos (MTK Command & Control Center)Authorities learned about people becoming trapped inside the cave after a man who was with the group managed to escape before the flooding.“I’m confident they are still alive because there is still air in the cave,” Mr Kengkard said.He was part of the diving team that brought the 12 footballers trapped in Tham Luang to safety after two weeks. The rescue operation involved more than 10,000 experts and later inspired several films, including a recent Netflix documentary.At the Xaysomboun cave, rescue workers have encountered a series of obstacles, including sand and gravel blocking passage, strong water flows, and a very narrow underwater section only about 50cm wide.Separate teams were exploring above the cave and around the mountain for alternative access points or openings that might connect to the chamber where the trapped people were suspected to be. Rescuers work to reach seven people trapped in a cave in Xaisomboun province of Laos (Local Library)Mr Kengkard said the way in wasn’t complicated but the narrow spaces they would need to crawl and tilt through as well as sharp rocks were making passage difficult.“The gap is only 50cm wide, it is really small, so we need to clear out the sediment from this spot first,” he said, according to the Guardian. “The gap is quite low to crawl through, and we have to tilt at a 45-degree angle.”Mr Kengkard arrived at the site with fellow Thai diver Norrased Palasing and Finnish specialist Mikko Paasi.Jakkrit Taengtang, a Thai technician with the Saithan Saphanboon Foundation, said rescuers had to stay at the site overnight as reaching the cave’s opening involved a 5km-hike through rugged terrain.“The difficulty of this operation depends on the rain,” he said. “We had to retreat earlier because of the water level rising in the cave.”The cave system, located in a remote area of central Laos, runs deep underground, with some passages going in more than 100m from the entrance.