Search for two men trapped in Laos cave suspended after more than two weeks

Rescue teams suspended, this Saturday (6), the search for the last two men trapped in a flooded cave in Laos more than two weeks ago.
Lee Kian Lie, a Malaysian cave diver who participated in the rescue, told AFP that the mission had come to an "end", as the risks of continuing outweighed the few possibilities of rescuing them.
"We were so close", lamented Lee. "But the entrance began to become unstable," he added. "Continuing with the operation carries a high risk."
On May 20, seven men who were hunting bats for food and looking for gold in the cave, located in the province of Xaysomboun, were trapped when rainwater blocked their exit.
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Rescue teams located five of them alive a week later: one was rescued by divers on May 29, and four others were guided to the exit the next day, after the water be pumped out of the flooded cave.
The other two remain missing, despite intense search efforts by rescue teams from Laos and other countries.
"We tried. I am very sorry about what happened to the families," Lee said, adding that this was the most dangerous rescue operation he had participated in.
The five survivors were found crowded together in a narrow corridor about 300 meters from the cave entrance. They explained that the two missing men had entered the place separately.
What the cave in Laos where people are trapped is like
Photo: Juan Silva/g1
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'It could give way at any time': leader of the search points out challenges in locating men who remain trapped in a cave in Laos

Source: G1