An Australian cave diver called in to help retrieve villagers trapped in a flooded cave in Laos has described the scene confronting rescuers as “scary as hell”.

At least five people were found alive and safe on Wednesday, more than a week after they reportedly entered the abandoned mine to search for gold and became trapped by flash flooding.

Initial reports stated that seven villagers were in the cave and there has been some confusion since over exactly how many were in the group that was located and if two are still missing.

Video footage shows the rescuers – including Finnish cave diver Mikko Paasi, who was involved in the 2018 Thai cave rescue of 12 young footballers – embracing the relieved group inside the cave and jubilant scenes outside its entrance.

It also reveals how floodwaters have engulfed the narrow passages within the cave, which is riddled with hazards and located in a remote area in Xaisomboun province.

Paasi told the ABC that rescuers had to wriggle “like a worm” to get through: “It’s the most claustrophobic place that I’ve ever been in my life.”

Now, an international team – including Adelaide diver Josh Richards – is being pulled together as rescuers work out how to extract the villagers, who are about 300 metres inside the cave.

Speaking to the ABC ahead of his departure for Laos on Friday night, Richards said the cave looked “scary as hell”.

“The stuff that Mikko has shared via video should scare anybody who watches it,” he said.

Richards, who is part of an SA dive team called the “Soggy Wombats”, said his friendship with rescue team leader Paasi and his small size were why he was being included in the mission.

“I have a reputation for being able to squeeze into very small, deeply unpleasant underwater places. And that’s kind of what we’re dealing with in Laos.”

Rescuers have been exploring the option of pumping water out of the cave so the trapped group can crawl out, but Paasi warned on Thursday that they would be “in big trouble” if it started raining.

Meanwhile, they have been able to pass food and water through to the five, who Richards said he had been told were tired and hungry but in good spirits after being found.

He acknowledged the narrow tunnels, flooding risk and instability of the cave made the rescue mission “tricky”, telling Seven News that the poor visibility meant it was like “diving in coffee”.

“The cave is significantly smaller than the one that the soccer team was rescued from in Thailand, not just in length, but actually in physical size,” he said.

“The actual diameter of the cave that we’re going into is a major factor in why I’m being incorporated and why other divers from around South-East Asia are being incorporated as well.”

The leader of a Thai volunteer group said on Friday that more oxygen tanks would be needed to complete the rescue mission.

“We need to borrow as many oxygen tanks as ⁠possible and want to set up an oxygen refilling station in front of the cave,” Kengkard Bongkawong wrote on social media.

–with AAP