Footage shows rescuers squeezing themselves through tiny gaps to reach five out of seven villagers that had been trapped in a flooded Laos cave for a week. Video shared on social media by Thai rescue team MTK Command and Control Center on Thursday (28 May) shows the rescue divers emerging from the water and finding the missing men. The five men can be seen crouching together on a rock as they spoke with the rescuers, who told them of their plans to drain the cave. Two men remain unaccounted for. The group of seven became stranded on 20 May after entering an abandoned gold mine, with heavy rain causing flash flooding that blocked their exit.

Seven villagers entered the cave in central Laos five days ago looking for gold when heavy rain caused flash flooding, trapping them inside.

Cave rescue experts who took part in the dramatic rescue of 12 young soccer players from a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018 have joined the effort to save the stranded group.