A days-long rescue mission in Laos came to an extraordinary end as four villagers crawled out of a flooded cave where they had been trapped for over a week.

A team of specialist divers ⁠said ⁠they pulled one man from ⁠a flooded cave in central Laos on Friday, as four ​more people remained trapped with two others still missing.

They are among seven villagers who entered the narrow tunnels in search of gold but were prevented from leaving when flash floods hit the remote mountain area of central Xaysomboun province on 20 May.