Rescuers have described the “emotional” and “overwhelming” moment when they discovered five villagers alive inside a flooded gold mine in Laos.Seven villagers have been trapped for more than a week after entering the remote cave in Xaysomboun province in search of gold, only to see torrential rains flood the mine complex. On Wednesday five people were found alive in a chamber over 300 metres from the cave’s entrance. Two are still missing.Rescuers squeeze through tiny gaps to reach trapped villagers in flooded Laos cave (AP)Finnish cave diver Mikko Paasi, who is part of the rescue mission, described the moment he found the villagers alive as “overwhelming”. In an interview with ABC News, he said: “That was an emotional moment [when we found them], like what are the chances? We believed they were still alive, but the odds were quite low given everything.”A member of a rescue team works to save people trapped in a cave, in Xaisomboun Province, Laos (Reuters)He added: “Ascending to the final chamber where they were and seeing them sitting there all grey and all pale but in good spirits.“They were very happy, there were tears, big smiles from both sides,” he said.“The feeling of not giving up, and succeeding … now we are one step closer to getting them back out to their families and kids. It was overwhelming.”Metta Tham Rescue Kalasin, rescuers, left, sit after rescuing people who have been trapped in a cave in Xaisomboun province, Laos. Wednesday (AP)Despite the sense of celebration at just finding the villagers alive, rescuers are now keenly aware of the challenge they face in bringing the five out of the cave.On Thursday, Kengkard Bongkawong, who also participated in the dramatic 2018 mission to save young Thai footballers from a flooded cave, said the next step was to “escort all five people out of the cave”, which was not going to be an easy task. He said rescuers still had to contend with an extremely narrow passage running several hundred metres, including a 27-metre section that was fully submerged. “The main dangers are running out of air and getting stuck, so we need a watertight safety and rescue backup plan ready to go instantly,” he wrote on Facebook.“We need to borrow as many oxygen tanks as possible and want to set up an oxygen refilling station in front of the cave.” Kengkard Bongawong, Head of the Metta Tham Kalasin Rescue, reacts as he comes out from the cave after finding out five people were alive, as the rescue team works to save trapped people in a cave, in Xaisomboun Province, Laos, 27 May 2026, in this screengrab taken from a handout video (Reuters)Mr Paasi also said that the rescue operation was especially difficult because the cave passages were extremely narrow, muddy and partially flooded, forcing divers to squeeze through tight underwater gaps while carrying equipment in near-zero visibility. He said rescuers needed to be “slim”, mentally tough and ideally “under 60 to 70kgs” because larger divers could struggle to fit through some sections, where even breathing space was limited.Josh Richards, an Australian diver, is joining the rescue effort on Friday. Two rescue workers say that they have found five of the people who were trapped in a cave alive, in Xaisomboun Province, Laos, 27 May 2026, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video (Reuters)Mr Paasi said on Thursday: “If claustrophobia had a form, this would be it.” He said to enter the cave, one had to “wriggle through like a worm” to get to the flooded chamber.“It’s a constant, super tight restriction. “I had to go through places where I had to exhale to wiggle my body through.“Moving inside the tunnels – hundreds of metres of tunnels – is done by fingertips or toe-tips.Members of a rescue team celebrate after announcing that they have found people trapped in a cave, in Xaisomboun Province, Laos,27 May 2026 in this screengrab taken from a handout video (Reuters)“The diving is the same … you take a tank in your hand and you reverse into a hole that you can barely fit your chest in.“It’s a really dangerous way of diving. If something happens, you are so deep in the ground, behind such long, tight tunnels, that you’re pretty much on your own.”Locals have long been aware of the hazards involved in entering the abandoned mine, but official warnings have failed to deter people from seeking their fortune there. Bounkham Luanglath, a member of the Lao rescue team, said the site had long attracted visitors hoping to find precious metals.Eight villagers had initially entered the abandoned gold mine, but one person from the group escaped after noticing floodwaters rising quickly due to heavy rain, while the other seven became trapped inside. Their predicament was only reported publicly nearly three days later.