VIENTIANE, May 27 — Rescuers were “racing against time” today to extract seven people trapped in a flooded cave for a week in Laos, a specialist diver involved in the operation said.

“If all the possible safety matters can be met today, we are considering a final search dive into the last chamber to locate the lost 7,” Finnish diver Mikko Paasi said in a social media post.

“We are racing against time as today marks the 7th day and the way in is full of challenges,” added Paasi, one of the rescuers who aided the dramatic 2018 retrieval of a youth football team from a flooded cave in Thailand.

Seven Laotian villagers entered the cave in central Xaysomboun province, about 125km north-east of the capital Vientiane, on May 20, Laotian state media said this week.

They were searching for gold but instead got trapped inside the cave — what Paasi called an “abandoned gold mine” — after heavy rain triggered flash flooding, blocking their exit.

Authorities and villagers have worked to pump water out, but rescue teams were not able to reach the group, state media said on Monday.

By this morning, the water level in the cave had dried up considerably with rescuers continuing to pump it out, state-run Lao Economic Daily said today.

Laotian rescuers, local officials and villagers gathered outside the cave this morning before rescue operations resumed to perform a traditional spiritual ceremony, offering chickens and rice alcohol to sacred spirits believed to protect the mountain and rescuers, a Laotian rescue group said.

Images shared by rescue teams on social media showed the offerings laid beside the cave entrance.

The cave system, located in a remote area, extends deep underground, with multiple levels and narrow passages.

Inside the cave, Paasi said “you have to navigate hundreds of metres (yards) of constant restrictions, flood waters, collapse hazards and high risk of contaminated air quality”.

The missing seven people “should be trapped in the terminal chamber” around 300m from the exit, said Paasi, who is part of team that includes another diver and a team manager from Laos.

“We are still in high spirits that we will find the miners alive as they entered the mine with resources to stay sub-terrain for several days,” Paasi said. — AFP