A handout photo made available by Metta Tham Kalasin Rescue shows a Laotian survivor rescued from a flooded cave in a mountainous area in Xaisomboun province, Laos, on Friday. Photo by Metta Tham Kalasin Rescue/EPA
June 1 (UPI) -- Rescue workers in Laos said they heard a knocking sound while searching flooded caves for villagers who went missing on May 19.
The search continues in the Xaisomboun province for two of seven villagers who descended into the caves searching for gold last month. The rescue workers said Monday they knocked on the cave walls and heard a "knocking response" from deep inside the cave system within the last 24 hours.
An eighth villager went into the cave with the group but was able to escape and alert of the seven others who were trapped.
"Yesterday, when we knocked, there was a signal responding back," Kengkaj Bongkawong, head of Metta Tham Rescue Kalasin, a Thai rescue team, wrote on Facebook. "It was a knocking sound meant to be heard. Based on our initial assessment, this is considered not to be a reflection or an echo of the sound."
