The first of five men found alive after spending over a week trapped in a flooded cave in Laos has been freed, proving once again that caves are terrible places to be during monsoon season.
The group had been hunting for gold when they got cut off inside the cavern in an isolated part of the country after flash floods hit on 20 May. Because nothing says "smart treasure hunt" like entering a cave during the rainy season.
Five were discovered alive on Wednesday when rescue divers found them huddled together 300 meters (984 feet) from the cave mouth. Two other men are still missing, presumably not having the decency to stay with the group.
On Friday, one of the divers posted a picture on Facebook showing a man being dragged to safety. The Thai rescue group added: "The first victim has been successfully rescued out of the cave." The rescue in the remote mountain area of central Xaysomboun province has been a race against time, with thunderstorms predicted for Friday evening and rain in 60 percent of the region.
Thai rescue team member Kengkard Bonggawong said on social media: "One person has got out of the cave safely. We will assess the other four and we will hunt for the other two tomorrow." Footage of the five men shot on Wednesday showed them miserable and caked in mud, telling rescuers they were suffering chest pains and starving hungry - because nothing ruins a gold-hunting expedition like being trapped in a muddy hole for a week.
The rescue comes after experts had originally planned to pump out flood waters that were stopping the men from getting to safety. That plan initially failed, and a last resort was discussed of teaching the trapped men how to scuba dive and swim out. It has not yet been disclosed exactly how the first man was brought to safety, but the rescuers say they will explain later - presumably after they've finished high-fiving.
The trapped group's plight has captured the imagination of the international diving community, and on Friday more help arrived. Specialist divers from Thailand, Indonesia, France, and Australia landed in Laos to provide extra expertise. The rescue is similar to the case of the Thai youth football team, who were trapped in a cave for 18 days in 2018.
Finnish diver Mikko Paasi was involved in that rescue and the current emergency in Laos. He told CBS News on Friday: "The environment is so hostile that anything can happen." Which is basically the motto of cave diving everywhere.