VIENTIANE, Laos — 28 May 2026, Rescue teams working to extract five survivors trapped in a cave in Laos’s Xaisomboun province are urgently appealing for oxygen tanks as the operation enters a critical phase, with two others still missing.
The Thai rescue team leader, Ting Li Gengkat Bongkawong, president of the Metta Tham Rescue Association, said the team needs a large number of four-litre oxygen tanks to be placed inside the cave ahead of the extraction, as the cave’s air supply system does not yet reach all areas where the operation will take place.
“Does anyone in Laos have tanks to lend?” he posted, appealing directly to the public for assistance.
Ting Li said extracting the five survivors would be far from straightforward, with rescuers needing to navigate several hundred metres of narrow passages and move through more than 27 metres of flooded sections.
“Safety is the absolute priority — there is no room for error,” he said. “The air supply inside must be sufficient, and the safety plan must be airtight and ready to deploy immediately in an emergency.”
The rescue operation involves divers and officials from Laos, Thailand and Finland — several of whom took part in the 2018 rescue of 13 members of the Wild Boars football team from a cave in Chiang Rai.
Ting Li said the team remains hopeful that the two missing individuals will be found safe.
“We who are on the ground always hold onto hope that they are safe,” he said. “Their families must not give up either.”
