Four Miners Self-Rescue From Laos Cave; Heavy Rain Threatens Search For Two

Four of the seven miners walked out of the cave on Saturday after water levels fell, lead rescue diver Mikko Paasi said, bringing the total rescued to five after an earlier risky evacuation on Friday.

Heavy rains are threatening to delay or suspend searches for the two remaining miners, Rescue Volunteer for People said on Facebook, warning that rain was flowing into the cave and operations might be stopped for rescuers' safety.

Some survivors are advising rescuers from their hospital rooms and have provided a cave map, and Paasi said they reported a narrow crack that could lead to a deeper sixth chamber where the two missing men might be.

Rescuers from Finland, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, France, Australia and Thailand have mapped more than 200 meters into the system and located five miners in the fifth chamber, rescuers said.

Teams are pumping water, repairing a broken drainage pump and preparing to probe a narrow gap to a suspected sixth chamber, but operations were paused after rain filled the cave to the second chamber, rescuers said.