Five Men Walk Out of Flooded Laos Gold Mine Cave After 10 Days as Pumps Lower Water
Updated
Updated · CNN · May 30
Five Men Walk Out of Flooded Laos Gold Mine Cave After 10 Days as Pumps Lower Water
8 articles · Updated · CNN · May 30
Five trapped villagers emerged from the flooded Laos cave on Saturday under their own power, overturning a rescue plan that expected divers to guide them out one by one.
Overnight pumping sharply lowered water levels after one man had already been led out Friday, turning a high-risk route of zero-visibility tunnels and 60-centimeter passages into a survivable scramble.
The men had entered the cave more than a week earlier searching for gold and were found after nearly a week without food or water; rescuers said some suffered skin and intestinal problems.
Two other villagers believed to have entered the cave earlier remain missing, and rescuers are weighing whether worsening weather will make any renewed search too dangerous.
The incident has spotlighted Laos' expanding informal gold mining economy, where high prices and scarce rural jobs push people into illegal, rain-season digging despite deadly past collapses.
As rescuers celebrate saving five, what is the fate of the two miners still missing as torrential rains threaten the cave?
They survived ten days trapped underground. Will Laos’s rescued gold miners now face prosecution for their illegal work?
This rescue exposed a deadly trade. Can Laos stop its illegal gold mining crisis before another disaster strikes?
Five Miners Rescued, Two Missing: The 2026 Laos Gold Mine Disaster and the Global Effort to Save Lives
Overview
In late May 2026, five miners in Laos were dramatically rescued after being trapped underground for ten days. The miners had entered an abandoned mine searching for gold, but flash floods cut off their escape. A complex international rescue effort, involving experienced cave divers, first located the miners in a ventilated chamber above the floodwaters. After days of delivering supplies and preparing the men for extraction, one miner was rescued on May 29, followed by four more the next day. The operation highlighted both the dangers of unregulated gold mining and the power of global teamwork in saving lives.