Rescuers have been able to find the body of a man who had been trapped inside a cave in the northern Vietnamese province of Lao Cai since the beginning of this month, despite relentless rescue efforts over the last nine days.

Giang Seo Lu, 56, was found dead in the cavern in Man Than Commune, Si Ma Cai District, at around 8:00 am on Sunday, Lua Quang Vinh, vice-chairman of the commune’s administration, confirmed later the same day.

The cave stretched some 100 meters into a mountain, with the man’s body discovered decomposing at about 40 meters from the entrance, Vinh elaborated.

It took rescuers two hours to bring the deceased victim outside as the cave was still filled with mud and rocks, he added.

The corpse has been handed to the family for funeral rituals.

Lu and his brother, Giang Seo Dung, went into the cave on June 1, shortly before a heavy storm hit the area, causing a landslide which blocked the entrance with rocks and mud. 

Dung was able to escape in time, but Lu was not so fortunate.

The men went into the grotto that day to bring the pump used to water their paddy fields back into their house.

It was raining heavily, and they did not want the machine to be damaged.

Over 100 rescuers joined the efforts to save Lu, but the rainy weather made their job much more difficult.

They nearly reached the victim on Tuesday last week, before another downpour triggered a mudslide later that day, forcing them to restart the rescue.

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