An Australian cave diver is part of an international team that has been flown into Laos from around the world to rescue seven people stuck in a remote, flooded cave.

The group entered the cave in Xaysomboun province, central Laos, to hunt wildlife and search for gold more than a week ago, but heavy rain blocked the cave entrance. Five of them were found alive this week , but two remain unaccounted for – and the rescuers, some of whom were involved in the rescue of a young Thai football team in 2018, still need to extract the survivors from the inundated passageways.

Kengkard Bongkawong, the head of operations for Metta Tham Rescue, a Thai group, said on social media that searching for the two missing men would be even more challenging, requiring teams to dive through a 30m narrow tunnel, checking along the way for any intersections.…