He rescued 12 boys from a flooded cave in 2018, now he is racing to save trapped villagers in Laos: Meet legendary cave diver Mikko Paasi

Eight years after helping rescue a Thai football team trapped deep inside a flooded cave, Finnish diver Mikko Paasi has once again entered another life-or-death underground mission in Southeast Asia. Paasi, one of the international cave divers involved in the dramatic 2018 Tham Luang rescue in Thailand, is now part of the operation searching for seven villagers trapped inside a flooded cave system in Laos after heavy rain and landslides sealed the entrance. As rescuers battle muddy floodwaters, razor-sharp rock passages and narrowing oxygen supplies, Paasi has returned to the kind of dangerous environment that made the Thai cave rescue one of the most extraordinary survival stories in modern history.

The diver behind the Thai cave rescue miracle

Mikko Paasi became internationally known during the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue, when 12 boys from the Wild Boars football team and their coach became trapped underground in northern Thailand after monsoon flooding blocked their escape route.

The rescue operation lasted more than two weeks and involved elite cave divers, military personnel, engineers and rescue specialists from around the world. Divers were forced to navigate narrow flooded tunnels in near-total darkness while carrying oxygen tanks and emergency supplies through strong currents and almost zero visibility.

Paasi was among the experienced cave divers supporting the mission, which eventually succeeded in rescuing all 13 trapped survivors. The operation later became the subject of documentaries, films and international praise, with many experts describing it as one of the most dangerous cave rescues ever attempted.

Back underground in Laos

Now, Paasi has returned to another flooded cave crisis unfolding in Laos’s Xaisomboun province. According to reports, seven villagers became trapped after entering a cave shortly before severe rain caused water levels to rise rapidly and block the exits.

Rescue conditions are being described as extremely difficult. Divers are reportedly squeezing through flooded passages as narrow as 50 to 60 centimetres while teams pump water from the cave around the clock. Rescue workers also believe the trapped villagers may have reached elevated ground deeper inside the cave system where air pockets could still exist.

Paasi is reportedly working alongside Thai rescue specialists who were also connected to the 2018 operation, creating striking parallels between the two missions. Once again, rescuers are racing against time, weather and dangerous underground conditions in the hope of finding survivors alive.

Why cave diving is one of the world’s deadliest rescue missions

Cave rescue is considered one of the most dangerous forms of diving in the world. Unlike open-water diving, rescuers often work in tight, flooded tunnels where visibility disappears completely and a single mistake can become fatal.

Yet experienced cave divers like Paasi repeatedly return to these missions because their skills are exceptionally rare. In many cases, only a small number of people worldwide have the training and psychological endurance required to operate in such environments.

The Laos rescue has already drawn comparisons to the 2018 Thai cave disaster because of its flooded passages, uncertain survival conditions and international rescue effort. For Paasi, however, the mission appears to represent something larger than public recognition or headlines. Years after helping save trapped schoolboys in Thailand, he is once again crawling through darkness and floodwater in an attempt to bring more people home alive.