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

World Rescue diver details "very heartwarming" moments after 4 miners emerged from Laos cave By Kerry Breen Kerry Breen News Editor Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University's Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News' TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use. Read Full Bio Kerry Breen May 31, 2026 / 3:05 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Four of the gold miners trapped in a flooded cave in Laos "self-rescued" on Saturday, lead rescue diver Mikko Paasi told CBS News. Their escape from the cave came one day after a fifth miner was pulled from the cave in a risky maneuver."We were just getting ready to come in and they're already coming out," Paasi told CBS News chief correspondent Matt Gutman. "The guys came out by themselves."Paasi said that the four miners had noticed the water level dropping and decided to act. They "saw the opportunity" to crawl out and "took it," he said. The miners were muddy and shaken, but alive. Two miners remain missing, and efforts to locate them continue amid inclement weather. All seven miners were in the cave together when they became trapped by floodwaters almost two weeks ago. The rescuers found the five miners in the furthest of the cave's five known chambers on Wednesday. Rescue divers were able to bring food and supplies to them once they were located, and map the cave to prepare a rescue plan. After the first miner in the chamber was rescued on Friday, Paasi and other rescuers kept pumps working all night to remove water from the cave system. When the rescue divers suited up to re-enter the cave Saturday morning to assess conditions for attempting to rescue the remaining miners, they came face-to-face with the four men. "It took me a while to understand that this is really happening, and counting. Like, are they all three, all four here?" Paasi said. The miners were greeted with cheers, h...