Rescue workers in Laos on Saturday safely evacuated four more villagers who had been trapped inside a flooded cave for 10 days, a day after another survivor was successfully brought out. Two villagers remain missing, and search operations are continuing.

Lao and Thai rescue teams shared updates on social media, posting photos showing the rescued men lying on stretchers, wearing oxygen masks and wrapped in foil blankets.

According to rescuers, the villagers entered the cave last week in search of valuable minerals but became trapped when flash floods blocked the exit. Another villager managed to escape and alerted authorities about the seven people left inside.

The Lao organization Rescue Volunteer for People said water levels inside the cave had fallen enough to allow four survivors to leave with divers who had been delivering food and water. Video footage shared by Thai rescuer Chakkit Taengtang showed the mud-covered men being helped out one by one before being embraced by emotional rescuers.

The first survivor was rescued on Friday in an operation that took about 30 minutes.

Five villagers — identified as Khamla, Mued, Ee, Ing and Laen — were found alive on Wednesday. Rescue teams from Laos, Thailand, Japan and Malaysia, along with specialists from Indonesia, France and Australia, joined the operation in Xaisomboun province, about 120 kilometers north of Vientiane. Several had participated in Thailand’s 2018 cave rescue.

Rescuers are now preparing to search deeper into the heavily flooded cave for the two missing villagers.