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May 26, 2026 / 8:22 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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In pitch-black tunnels in a remote mine in central Laos, rescuers are risking their lives to save seven miners who have been trapped for a week."We haven't found them, but the operation is escalating a lot, and we have high hopes that they are still alive," Mikko Paasi, a Thai-based Finnish diver who was instrumental in the rescue of a youth soccer team that was trapped in a cave in Thailand in 2018, told CBS News. Paasi is now in Laos, helping authorities in the rescue effort. Officials say the artisanal gold miners became trapped about 200 yards into the mine when early monsoon rains pummeled the south of the country. A muddy pit in dense jungle miles from a road that had been the entrance to the mine has now turned into a hub of operations as Paasi and others work to get the miners out. "The collapse risks are high because you're constantly touching the roof, and it's hand-dug. There's no support anywhere," Paasi explained.
