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Urgent Rescue Underway for Five Men Trapped Deep in Laos Cave. Aired 10a-11a ET

Aired May 29, 2026 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(CNN SIMULCAST)

[10:21:29]

ANNOUNCER: CNN Breaking News.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back.

And right now, a complicated rescue attempt is underway in Laos to try and save five men who have been trapped deep inside a cave for over a week.

Rescue divers inside the cave were heard shouting, they are coming out. That was during a phone interview with CNN. One of those divers says at

least one survivor has made it through the flooded portion of the cave.

Here is our Will Ripley, who is near the cave in Laos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'll play for you the last 15 seconds of the phone call that our producer Kocha was having with

her source. And while it's playing, I'm going to ask Kocha to step in because she just got some new information literally a couple minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOCHA OLARN, CNN PRODUCER: OK. You're a professional diver, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes. We've been doing campaign for the already.

OLARN: How many years, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think about 13 years.

OLARN: Thirteen years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're coming out.

OLARN: They're coming out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're coming out.

OLARN: They're coming out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: So, the voice you heard on the phone was Kocha Olarn, our amazing Bangkok based producer, a CNN veteran who helped us get here, which was

kind of a miraculous act in itself.

But you just got some new information from your sources about -- confirming that, in fact, one villager is now out, right?

OLARN: That's right. The very same guy that I talked to over the phone, he just posted on his Facebook that one found survivor has left the flooded

chambers. Now he's out, but he's not through the whole cave system yet. It's, you know, it's still a long way for him to go through. Yes.

RIPLEY: So basically there's the chamber where the five villagers are located. And then there is a really flooded cavern with icy pitch black

water that you actually need to dive under to get to another chamber, a larger chamber where a lot of the rescuers, the cave divers were actually

there. They were resting. Oh, it looks like the phones ringing. Might be calling him back inadvertently on the air.

OLARN: Yes.

RIPLEY: And so he's made it now to that second chamber. But there's still several hundred feet to go. And this is some of the toughest going that

will lie ahead because these are the areas that are 23 inches wide where he's going to have to basically exhale, wiggle his way to crawl sideways,

and then at one point climb up at a 45 degree angle for, I mean, quite a long distance. I don't remember the exact measurements.

They actually -- it's incredible, the technology they've been using. They sent -- a drone company sent a radar device down into the cave, and they

were able to do a 3-D map. So they know all the dimensions of the cave. But to actually think about having these guys went down a week ago searching

for gold, then the monsoon rains hit, the flash floods filled up the caves. They've been pumping water for days, but the water is still so high in some

places that the villagers are going to have to dive to escape. And then they have to do this arduous climb at the end, right?

OLARN: Yes. That's right. And imagine, when I talk to my contact inside the cave, literally inside the cave, he says that two divers were teaching

these five survivors how to use diving equipment. And I believe that many of them are there first to use this kind of like diving equipment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. So the men had been huddled together inside the cave under dire conditions for more than a week. I wanted you to take a look at

this video as rescuers reassure the men that help is on the way.

[10:25:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORRASED PALASING, THAI RESCUE DIVER (through text translation): But the passage is flooded. We're trying to pump the water out. The teams outside

are working hard to clear it for you.

EE, TRAPPED MINER (through text translation): How many people come?

PALASING (through text translation): Yes, loads of people. A lot of people come. What's your name?

EE (through text translation): I'm Ee.

PALASING (through text translation): Ee? How are you feeling?

EE (through text translation): My chest is really hurt.

PALASING (through text translation): Chest pain. OK. Anything else?

EE (through text translation): I've been coughing all the time, and my throat hurts.

PALASING (through text translation): Coughing, sore throat, chest pain. Anything else?

EE (through text translation): We're weak, and we're really hungry.

PALASING (through text translation): OK. OK. We'll bring more food in. OK, OK.

EE (through text translation): Please bring rice and some proper food.

PALASING (through text translation): OK. OK. We'll get it to you as soon as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right, so we have some breaking news. One person is safely out of the flooded cave. That is according to rescue workers that are pushing

efforts to try and get all five men out of the cave. So four others remain inside the cave and are awaiting assessment before the evacuation. The

search for two remaining people will resume tomorrow.

So just in to CNN, the first person has been safely brought out of the cave. We've been monitoring this story for the last few days. This is a big

rescue operation. The cave is located in a remote mountainous area in Laos. Will Ripley and his team had to take a helicopter to reach this very

isolated region. And of course, the great news that we hear that one person now officially is out of the cave.

I also want you to take a look at this exclusive report that Will Ripley and his team filed in an attempt to try and get to this very remote area in

Laos where the cave is located. Let's look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: All right, we're taking off. Godspeed. Right now we're heading towards the mountains, although you can see they're pretty difficult to

see. They're obscured by clouds and fog. The weather has been a real problem with the effort to reach the miners down that cave because every

time it rains, and it's monsoon season, so it's raining every day, it just floods the caves and the water levels rise and make it difficult to bring

anybody out or in.

And directly below us is where this cave rescue is unfolding as we speak. And you get a sense of just how dangerous and rugged this mountainous

jungle terrain is. It would have taken us close to 10 hours if we were driving here. The helicopter flight is taking us just about 40 minutes.

Whenever it rains, the water disappears into these mountains, creating this vast underground limestone cave network with these hidden rivers and

sinkholes and air pockets, where it's believed that those villagers were trapped.

It's also monsoon season. It's raining almost every day here. So when the water goes down, it instantly floods those caves, which is putting the

lives of the villagers and rescuers in danger. Getting equipment out here has been a huge challenge because as we flew in here, we saw that most of

the roads are winding dirt roads only passable during daylight hours. It's impossible to drive at night. It's much too dangerous.

But they need that heavy equipment, particularly large generators, so that they can pump the water out of the caves in between rainstorms to try to

get the water levels low enough so that the divers can crawl out without having to attempt an extremely perilous dive, pitch black, murky water. But

the villagers say their health condition is deteriorating. They've been sending video messages to their families.

They're desperately waiting to be reunited with their loved ones. And even though they now have food and medical care, they still have said that they

feel like if they have to spend much longer down in that cave, they might not make it out alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. So the news that has just into CNN, the first survivor is out of the flooded cave in Laos. This is after rescue operations over

the last few days, and divers, very technical people headed to this very remote area, this cave where the five people were found, about 260 meters

deep inside the cave. And of course, it's monsoon season. It meant that the cave became flooded. They had to take up generators, start pumping out some

of the water.

The five men now clearly discovered by the rescuers. One person has now been taken out of the cave. They're currently assessing the status of the

other four people in terms of trying to get them out of the cave. Importantly, you've got to think about very confined spaces, very dark,

very cold, cold water. It requires diving. It requires climbing as well as crawling to try and get out of this cave. So we're talking about a very

delicate, very dangerous rescue operation.

[10:30:03]

There are two other people, where the rescue operation still is ongoing. They have not been found as yet. Those rescue operations are going to

continue tomorrow to try and find those two people. In the meantime, family members, community members standing by waiting to speak to loved ones.

We've spoken to some of those. We've got Will Ripley and the team on the ground in Laos speaking to some of the rescue workers and importantly

monitoring the situation as we wait to hear more news as it happens.

In the meantime, we also are hearing about just how perilous this has been for the people that were trapped inside the cave, for the past 10 days or

so. And then rescue operations started to get close to the area on Wednesday. My team is telling me something. I don't know. OK. All right. We

move on. And I want to now show you a second video also filed by CNN's Will Ripley and his team as they reported from the ground near the search and

rescue headquarters.

I want you to take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: This is the farthest we're allowed to go without getting permission to join rescue crews who are heading up that dirt road there. You can

actually see the piece of heavy machinery that's being used to clear this road. They've been clearing the road in the last few days because they want

to bring in a large generator and in fact, multiple generators that they're using to pump the water out of the cave.

I just want to walk you around and show you a little bit more about this scene here. This is basically the main access road where they're bringing

in food, they're bringing in supplies, and they're bringing in personnel. We just saw a team of cave divers who arrived here a short time ago. They

actually flew in by military helicopter landing in the small village. A lot of the people who were involved, not only in the search, but also those who

are trapped in the caves themselves.

They come from this surrounding village, and you can just see the condition of the roads here. You also see emergency vehicles like an ambulance on

standby. You can see from the road, from the puddle there, how much it's been raining in recent days. But the good news today, if you look up, you

can see it's been blue skies and they have had a period of dry weather. So they're saying that they've drained the water to the lowest levels inside

the cave that it has been since the beginning of this search and rescue effort.

And that means that in the coming hours, we're told they may attempt to bring the survivors out if their physical condition is well enough, that

they can actually walk out on their own and don't need to be carried out on stretchers. We've actually seen the divers practicing putting people on

stretchers if need be, but some of the areas of the cave are so narrow, the survivors are going to have to have the strength to crawl through

themselves.

And some of them have been saying that their health condition is deteriorating. Sitting in that cave underground, breathing in that air,

they're starting to -- starting to really wear on them and take a toll on their bodies. So time is of the essence here at the search and rescue

headquarters, as cave divers are hoping that they can bring these people safely home, although they're still searching for two others who remain

missing.

Will Ripley, CNN, in central Laos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right, so Claus Rasmussen of Tech Dive Asia was involved in the famous mission to rescue a group of Thailand boys from a cave. That was

back in 2018. And he now joins us for a bit of insight into some of the images that we're seeing right now.

Claus, really good to have you with us. I mean, this is great news. We've heard of the very first person that has now been able to get out of that

flooded cave. Four people remain inside on the face of this. What are you seeing right now in terms of the rescue efforts and of course, the entire

scenario that has lasted for more than 10 days?

CLAUS RASMUSSEN, TECH DIVE ASIA: Well, what we've got now is that because we up there have been able to lower the water levels, they are actually

trying to truly get them out. I've seen videos from up there where, they are strapping people and practicing trying to pull the guys that's been in

there through the water filled areas. I'm very hopeful for the five people that we got in there where one has just been brought out.

Searching -- the search obviously has to go on for the last two people. But if they weren't with the original group of survivors that we found so far

then we will just have to see what happens. I know everybody up there is still very, very positive about it. But bringing them out in the way that I

have to do this is it's very similar, but it's completely different than what happened in 2018 at the Thai cave rescue.

GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, I'm glad you mentioned the two men that are still, you know, there's still a search out for them. They're going to be resuming the

search for them from tomorrow. Given the state of the people that were already found, I mean, they were hungry. They were, you know, waiting for

fresh water.

[10:35:01]

What is your anticipation here in terms of the two people that are still missing? I mean, there's a major concern about their health.

RASMUSSEN: Absolutely. I mean, health is a big thing. The thing that hasn't really in the media been made clear and that I haven't heard from the team

on the ground yet. Is the -- if there's been any reason given while these two people were separated for the group of five. But we also understand and

know that the whole situation occurred obviously as a surprise that there was a flood in of water and collapsed on the outside.

Nobody knows really where they were initially. So these five guys that clearly were together might not even know there's another two people in.

The main reason I believe that all these people that have arrived up there in the last 24 hours to assist, people flying in from Indonesia, from

Malaysia, and everything else is that obviously the guys that are already now for the last five days has been working very, very hard getting into

this situation, finding the people and now trying to get them out.

They've been working hard. So having fresh blood, fresh energy to come in and do this definitely helps these guys out.

GIOKOS: Yes. So, Claus, we actually have the footage of that first survivor that has been brought safely out of the cave. We want to play it for you

and our audience. We've been waiting for this moment. It's a very short video, but it shows the first person being able to get out of that cave.

Let's take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. There we go. I mean, that's -- there he is, climbing out, being assisted by the, being assisted by the rescue mission.

OK, Claus, we have to leave it there. We are going to be taking our viewers back to CNN domestic. We'll get back to all of you in just a moment.

Claus Rasmussen, thank you so much. We'll be back after this. Stick with CNN.

RIPLEY (via phone): -- cold water, then getting into a secondary cavern and then climbing at sometimes at a 45-degree angle. That first survivor has

now made it out, covered in mud, exhausted, obviously needing medical care.

We are now stationed along the kind of main road out of this area. We were asked to leave the area where the ambulances had been gathering, standing

by to take survivors. We're actually -- we're going to get back in the car now. We've got to leave this particular area, but I'm going to stay on the

line with you.

The police are coming. OK, OK. Where am I going? Which car? This one? OK. OK. Should I get in back with you?

OLARN: OK. Yes.

RIPLEY: OK. Hold on, Wolf, I just got to climb into the back. We got all the seats full, so I'm getting in the back of a pickup truck. Give me a

second. OK. I'm in the back of a pickup truck.

Kocha, can you tell me what did the governor tell you? Can you update us on the survivor? This is our Bangkok producer, Kocha Olarn.

OLARN: Sure. OK. So the governor says that we can --

RIPLEY: Go.

OLARN: Go. OK.

RIPLEY: Go, go. The police are coming. Go.

OLARN: They may be able to allow us to come back here again. They hope to hear more good news and success that all of the five can come out of the

caves. Yes.

RIPLEY: But they want us to stay away from the area where they're actually bringing them out, because this is obviously a very sensitive operation,

and there's a chance still that things could go wrong. This is a very dangerous operation. Even experienced divers can be injured or killed in an

operation like this. And so they just felt that the live broadcasting right by the area where it was happening could potentially put something on TV.

OLARN: Yes, that's exactly. And, you know, this is, you know, one of the secretive countries in the world. And, you know, what we have done so far

has been a miracle that we have been able to report facts of the case.

RIPLEY: So I don't know if you can hear the wind blowing, Wolf, but to set the scene, Kocha and I are now in the back of a pickup truck driving down a

very bumpy -- we're on a very bumpy dirt road. We've now just turned onto the paved road, so things are a little smoother. But there's the -- we've

got the wind in our hair here. What we're heading back to the only guesthouse within probably 100 miles of this area.

We're in Longjiang, which is people familiar with the Vietnam War, there was a secret CIA base very close to here. There are millions of American

bombs that fell in the jungles around here during Vietnam. And some of them are still unexploded. So it's actually very dangerous to actually trek in

the area where this cave is located. The reason why the villagers went there is because they heard that there was gold in the cave. And so a group

of them went 10 days ago looking for that gold.

[10:40:00]

And then a huge rainstorm hit and it flooded the cave tunnels. It's been dry today. In fact, we can see the moon shining through some thin clouds

right now as we sit in the back of this pickup truck and this break in the weather, along with days of bringing heavy equipment and generators in to

pump the water out of the cave, that's the only reason that they're able to actually attempt this rescue operation right now.

But it's still incredibly dangerous because they've had to train these villagers on diving equipment that they've never used before. They've had

to learn how to dive and again swim 100 feet under this pitch -- in this pitch black water, basically holding on to the leg of an experienced diving

instructor to get into the secondary cave cavern and then to climb out another 800 or so feet to get to the surface.

So it's taken several hours. They were -- they've been down there for, what was it, Kocha, four or five hours training?

OLARN: Yes, I think it's more than like three hours training them. So, you know, there are still like five of them. We don't know that, you know, if

this training fit for all of them, if all of them would feel comfortable to come out at the same time.

RIPLEY: Right. So what they were saying is that, is that basically they have to see if they feel physically up for it, they're going to try to get

them out tonight while the weather is good, because obviously if another rainstorm hits, it could change this dynamic very, very quickly, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So that first survivor is out of that flooded cave. But here's the question. I know they want to take this survivor and

the other survivors, God willing, once they're all removed to a hospital. How far is a hospital from where -- for where this flooded cave is?

I think we may have lost Will Ripley, but, Gretchen Baker is with us once again, the national coordinator of the National Cave Rescue Commission.

Do you know, Gretchen, how far a hospital is from this flooded cave? Because that first survivor is now out, and I assume they're going to want

to get the survivor to a hospital as quickly as possible.

GRETCHEN BAKER, NATIONAL COORDINATOR, NATIONAL CAVE RESCUE COMMISSION: I don't know exactly, but it is a long drive just to get up to that cave. So

if they're taking the folks by vehicle, it's going to be possibly hours to get to a hospital. But if there's helicopter support, that would be a bit

faster.

BLITZER: Yes, helicopters would be critical potentially because we don't know what kind of condition the survivors will be after spending, what, a

week in that horrible, horrible cave.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, they've been there more than a week. Ten days ago, they went to this cave to try to find gold. There were rumors

going around that there was gold there. They got trapped because of the floods. And we heard Will talk about the health conditions of them. They

have low oxygen. They're weak from not eating.

Tell us more about what that does, Gretchen, to the body and how much of a physical and mental strain this is on those villagers who are also using

diving equipment that they were just trained on for the first time.

BAKER: When these villagers went into the cave, they weren't prepared to spend overnight in the cave. They thought it would just be a one-day trip

into the cave. So they didn't have a lot of food and a lot of water with them. And so they quickly went through whatever supplies they had. So

they've had to rely on just water in the cave, which is not necessarily very healthy to drink. And then they've had to just not have food until the

rescuers made contact with them.

So that makes you pretty weak. It makes you just very lethargic and not able to do a whole lot. And so I'm sure they're all really eager to get

out. And so that a little bit of adrenaline will help them. But since it's a long way to get out of the cave, it's going to take more than just

adrenaline. They have to build up their resources a little bit to have that strength.

BLITZER: And all this is happening, as you know, Gretchen, in Laos and Will made an important point that some of us who remember the Vietnam War, the

U.S. was bombing at various targets in Laos repeatedly and they're potentially in that area around the cave where a lot of unexploded U.S.

bombs still.

How worried should the rescue teams be about all those unexploded U.S. bombs in Laos?

BAKER: Well, I'm probably not qualified to speculate on that, but I will say that it sounds like there is a determined road into the cave entrance

and that people know the way there. So getting to the cave entrance itself doesn't seem like that's a huge difficulty. Just very bumpy and rough and

takes a long time to do that.

BROWN: And just to follow up with you. So the good news is one of the villagers is out, so they have four more to go from that group. Two more

are missing. I just wonder how they would assess who should go first, second, third, fourth, fifth. Like do they look at their health conditions?

Do they take the one who might be in the worst condition first and go from there?

How do they decide? Because as you pointed out earlier, they're all desperately wanting to get out of this cave.

BAKER: Right. So that is going to be up to the rescuers to decide.

[10:45:03]

And sometimes it can be the strongest person first because they're going to have the most energy. Sometimes it's going to be the person who is most

injured because they need the medical care the most. And so it really will depend on those exact conditions and what the rescuers can do to assist

those folks out of the cave.

BROWN: OK. And just as we continue to watch this, just one more question for you, Gretchen. It took several hours for this first villager and

they're actually going out a different route from where they went in initially 10 days ago. Tell us more about just how treacherous this is,

each rescue mission, one by one.

BAKER: So to get each person out of the cave, they have to be moving through really tight passages. And these aren't just like continuously

tight in the same way. Caves are very three dimensional, so you might have to be climbing up and over something and then squeezing and making a hard

right turn, and then a hard left turn. And so doing those complicated maneuvers can wear you out even faster. Not only the rescuers, but also the

patients, the people getting rescued.

And so that combination makes it a very challenging and complex rescue. Plus there's water. And plus they have to go up a bunch. And so any time

you have any type of verticality and then dealing with that cool water is going to sap your strength and make it even harder.

BROWN: Wow. Just incredible watching this and these amazing rescuers who are risking their lives to try to get these villagers out. So far they've

been successful with one.

We're continuing to watch this. Gretchen Baker, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:51:23]

ANNOUNCER: CNN Breaking News.

GIOKOS: Welcome back. Our top story this hour, one person has now been safely brought out of a cave in Laos, where a group of men had been trapped

for more than a week. This is the footage of that one survivor that has now exited the cave. We have that image for you. This is the kind of conditions

that rescue workers have to deal with. And there he is. He's covered in mud, being pulled through by the rescuers on the ground there. Right.

So there are four others that are still inside the cave and are being evaluated before they can be brought out. Officials say the two search --

the search for the two missing people will resume on Saturday. That is tomorrow.

I want to bring back Claus Rasmussen of Tech Dive Asia. He was involved in the famous mission to rescue a group of Thailand boys from a cave back in

2018. He's back with us now.

Claus, thank you so much for joining us. I mean, you saw that image of the first survivor that has exited the cave. He's covered in mud. He was being

pulled through by the rescuers and the divers. From that initial image, what can you tell us about the kind of conditions that he's had to endure

for the past 10 days?

RASMUSSEN: Well, I've spent the last five days watching images from my friends which are on the rescue team and what they look like. And they're

obviously physically in a much better condition. But the conditions they're under, the distance they're going and the restriction, the whole area there

is a very, very muddy terrain. The restrictions they're going through is very, very narrow. There's only -- and I just heard that they have lowered

the water level, but it's only what we call a 30-meter or 100 feet passage of completely submerged distance they have to go.

And these guys go into these caves all the time. They -- it's not a random thing that they -- they are just going in there that day to look for gold.

They're going down on a regular basis. They have made these tunnels. They have dug into the -- to the mountain and the cave that they're in. These

guys are very comfortable in a very refined area. But now that everything has been flooded, obviously the huge area in the distance where they had to

be submerged has been the very hazardous part.

Getting them back out into where they are used to being has been tricky. But also the most hazardous part because if anybody was panicking, if

anybody was doing anything in that waterlogged part of it, that's where it can hinder anybody to come in or endanger any rescuer that is in the

environment and with them. So I'm very happy to see that the first person to come out and that they're now going to spend the next day or two, the

next day on bringing all those --

GIOKOS: Yes. So, Claus, let me ask you this. Yes. So, yes, two more are being -- the search is underway for those two. We've discussed those. But

in terms of evaluating the state of the other four, you know, based on what metrics are they going to decide who comes out next? Because this is very

physically intensive. It's crawling, it requires upper body strength. I mean, we're talking about very serious, you know, situation in terms of

dealing with these conditions that are very harsh.

[10:55:07]

RASMUSSEN: Well, I can put into reference what we know now that the kids in Thailand and the Thai cave rescue did. They chose the person that was

living the first away, the furthest part away so they could get home quicker to their parents. I think these five people that are used to being,

they are very obviously worn down. They've been in there for an awful long time. They would have a very clear notion, their own mind, about who you

take out.

You will try from the rescuer side to evaluate who is the weakest and get them out first. It's a completely different situation compared to what we

faced back in 2018. But it's helped by the fact that these guys are used to being in that specific environment. So they're not claustrophobic, they're

not necessarily going to panic very easy. So I -- they will simply do a lottery between these less for people that are in there because we're not

looking at finding specific clothes or sizes of masks or anything like that to make it work.

GIOKOS: Yes. Yes. So, Claus, we appreciate your insights. Thank you so much.

We're all watching this very closely. We're wishing for the very best.

Claus Rasmussen there for us.

That's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next. I'm Eleni Giokos. Have a great weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END