Rescuers searching for two men missing in a partially flooded cave in Laos for about two weeks said they were scouring for a new entry point yesterday as heavy rain slowed divers’ efforts inside.

Rescue divers found five other men alive around 300 metres (984 feet) from the mouth of the cave in Xaysomboun province last week after they had been stranded inside by flash floods for a week.

Foreign divers extracted one of the men on Friday, and four more found their own way out on Saturday. Rescue teams had delivered food and medicine for them and had pumped water from the cave for days, giving them an easier exit.

One of the five survivors, identified as Laen, said the men had gone into the cave to hunt bats for food and then figured they could extract some gold from old mining areas.