Search continues for two men trapped in flooded Laos cave

Rescue crews continue searching for two men trapped inside a flooded cave network in Laos nearly two weeks after they became stranded by rising water.

(CNN)- Rescue crews continue searching for two men trapped inside a flooded cave network in Laos nearly two weeks after they became stranded by rising water.

Rescue diver Josh Richards provided an update from the scene as international teams work to locate the missing men.

“We’ve heard the request that we need diver support,” Richards said.

Officials believe the men entered the cave on May 20, shortly before heavy rainfall caused flash flooding that blocked their exit.

Five other miners were successfully rescued from the cave after lengthy and challenging operations involving international rescue experts.

Richards said information gathered from the rescued miners has helped crews better understand the cave system.

“Having a map from the miners who were rescued yesterday, we now know that there’s a passage beyond,” he said.

Hope briefly increased after rescuers reported hearing unusual sounds deep within the cave network and discovered a vertical shaft they believed could lead to a chamber where the missing men might be located.

The reports came as rescuers rappelled down the newly discovered shaft to investigate.

However, Richards later clarified that reports of rescuers hearing knocking from survivors were inaccurate.

“There has been a lot of reporting saying, ‘Oh, we heard knocking.’ That is absolutely not the case,” Richards said. “There was definitely something unusual that I couldn’t identify. Now, that could have been bats. That could’ve been the wind.”

Richards also said the shaft was filled with rockfall and landslide debris, preventing rescuers from finding a route deeper into the cave.

“The shaft was full of rock-fall and landslide, and we couldn’t identify any way down it,” he said.

Despite the setback, rescue teams continue searching for new access points and signs of the two missing men as the operation enters its second week.