Diver details "heartwarming" moments after miners emerged from Laos cave

Four of the golden miners trapped successful a flooded cave successful Laos "self-rescued" connected Saturday, lead rescue diver Mikko Paasi told CBS News. Their flight from the cave came 1 time aft a 5th miner was pulled from the cave successful a risky maneuver.

"We were conscionable getting acceptable to travel successful and they're already coming out," Paasi told CBS News main analogous Matt Gutman. "The guys came retired by themselves."

Paasi said that the 4 miners had noticed the h2o level dropping and decided to act. They "saw the opportunity" to crawl retired and "took it," helium said. The miners were muddy and shaken, but alive. 

Two miners stay missing, and efforts to find them proceed amid inclement weather. All 7 miners were successful the cave unneurotic erstwhile they became trapped by floodwaters astir 2 weeks ago. The rescuers recovered the 5 miners successful the furthest of the cave's five known chambers connected Wednesday. Rescue divers were capable to bring nutrient and supplies to them erstwhile they were located, and representation the cave to hole a rescue plan. 

After the archetypal miner successful the enclosure was rescued connected Friday, Paasi and different rescuers kept pumps moving each nighttime to region h2o from the cave system. When the rescue divers suited up to re-enter the cave Saturday greeting to measure conditions for attempting to rescue the remaining miners, they came face-to-face with the 4 men. 

"It took maine a portion to recognize that this is truly happening, and counting. Like, are they each three, each 4 here?" Paasi said. 

The miners were greeted with cheers, hugs and a party-like atmosphere, Paasi said. He described the infinitesimal arsenic "very heartwarming." 

"It's the crushed that we support connected doing this for sure," Paasi said. 

Now, the rescuers volition enactment to find the 2 miners who stay missing and are feared dead. They whitethorn beryllium successful a sixth enclosure accessible lone done a constrictive spread successful the portion of the cave wherever the different 5 miners were, CBS News antecedently reported. Paasi said the enclosure is excessively tiny for him to enter, but that different divers volition effort to research it. 

Paasi said the rescue squad is successful statement astir continuing to hunt for the remaining men. They volition proceed to pump retired h2o to effort to drain the full cave system, helium said, with the anticipation that they volition beryllium capable to participate that sixth chamber. 

"We agreed that 'OK, present we're going to spell and find the missing two,'" Paasi said. "We can't halt here. We are already here. We got everybody astir here, everything is set."

Matt Gutman contributed to this report.

In:

• Cave Rescue