Search operation for missing cave victims suspended

TT

Published 10.30

 

The rescue operation in the cave is considered too dangerous to continue. Photo: AP/TT

After two weeks of frantic rescue work, the search for two people missing in a flooded cave in Laos has been suspended.

Five of the seven men trapped in the cave in the province of Xaisomboun have already been rescued.

The search continued for the two remaining people, but the operation has now been suspended. The rescue operation is considered too dangerous in the cave system, where the risk of landslides is high in many places. At the same time, the chances of finding the men alive are considered minimal.

– Everyone tried. We tried. I feel sorry for their families, says cave diver Lee Kian Lie.

However, food rations and survival supplies have been placed in selected locations in the hope that the men will find their way out on their own.

The seven men entered the cave system to search for gold, but were trapped when sudden torrential rains flooded the entrance.