A treacherous rescue bid to free a youth football team trapped in a flooded Thai cave entered its second day, with nine of the “Wild Boars” still inside after elite divers guided four out.
A treacherous rescue bid to free a youth football team trapped in a flooded Thai cave entered its second day, with nine of the “Wild Boars” still inside after elite divers guided four out.
According to reports, up to 18 divers have entered the cave at Tham Luang.
WATCH:
Reports that up to 18 divers have entered the cave at Tham Luang to rescue the remaining trapped boys and their coach. @ChrisReason7 #ThaiCaveRescue #7News pic.twitter.com/N5NvKEG32l pic.twitter.com/lpwxvkpX7g
Fighting time and high waters, divers prepare to rescue second group of boys from Thailand cave. Our prayers and thoughts are with them. Letâs hope they all make it out safe. #ThaiCaveRescue pic.twitter.com/nMNy1fBCyX
Iâm told the plan for this second stage of the #thaicaverescue involves bringing another four to the surface again, just like yesterday. That will hopefully make 8 out total, with five to go. #ThamLuang #tennews
two more ambulances have driven by in the last hour. still waiting for any official information on todayâs progress.
and now itâs starting to rain a lot. pic.twitter.com/vBKTAEhsAT
a helicopter just landed very close to the rescue site. #ThaiCaveRescue pic.twitter.com/sCFN2rpcpt
Simulating maneuvering through a narrow passage pic.twitter.com/2z01Ut3vxJ
Thailand cave rescue: It will likely be another 5 to 6 hours before divers attempt to go back in to the cave to get the boys out, due to difficulty restocking supplies, oxygen tanks, says Washington Post Reporter Shibani Mahtani https://t.co/EtiCiCcDcQ pic.twitter.com/pZ24ztIQc6
Emergency teams are preparing to send divers back into the flooded Thai cave to rescue more of the trapped boys and their soccer coach. @benavery9 #9News pic.twitter.com/GtytHXrmwf
Agonising wait
With so few details released, parents continued their agonising wait to be reunited with their sons.”I am still waiting here at the cave, keeping my fingers crossed to see whether my son will be one of those to come out today,” Supaluk Sompiengjai, a mother of Pheeraphat – known by his nickname “Night” – told AFP.
“We heard four boys are out but we do not know who they are. Many parents are still here waiting. None of us has been informed of anything.” But she added she was “happy” at the prospect of seeing her son again.
To get the remaining boys out, divers will be forced by the narrow passages to accompany them one at a time. None of the boys have scuba diving experience and experts have warned they could easily panic while swimming underwater in darkness. The lack of space has added complexity to storing enough canisters of oxygen along the route out.
The death of a former Thai Navy SEAL diver who ran out of oxygen in the cave on Friday underscored the danger of the journey even for professionals. Weather forecasters said heavy rain could hit the area on Monday afternoon and continue through the week.
Authorities have repeatedly warned that the rain could re-flood crucial parts of the cave complex that have been drained and make the escape route march harder or even impossible to navigate. The hordes of global and local media have been kept back from the cave and the hospital in Chiang Rai, where the rescued boys are believed to be under observation.
Night’s relatives have said they believe the group went to the cave to celebrate his 16th birthday after a Saturday football practice and got caught as heavy rains caused the water inside the cave to suddenly rise. A frantic rescue mission was hatched in the week since they were found.
Expert climbers, divers and Thai Navy Seals have mulled contingencies ranging from drilling an escape route through the mountain to waiting out the monsoon inside the cave. But the rescue was prodded into action by the threat of a fresh round of rains and falling oxygen levels in the cave.
Thai cave rescue bid enters day two
A treacherous rescue bid to free a youth football team trapped in a flooded Thai cave entered its second day, with nine of the “Wild Boars” still inside after elite divers guided four out.
Looming rain was one of the main enemies of the operation, threatening to flood the cave complex in mountainous northern Thailand, although a bewildering array of other dangers could also doom the escape plans.
Thais have been fixated on the crisis, hoping desperately for the safe return of the boys and their 25-year-old coach, since they became trapped in the Tham Luang cave complex on June 23 because of rising waters.
They spent nine days unaccounted for inside the cave, before British divers found the emaciated and dishevelled group huddling on a muddy bank above the flooding.
On Sunday four members of the “Wild Boar” team were successfully brought out from the cave, after authorities decided they had to rush ahead with a rescue operation to beat monsoon rains.
They were guided by expert divers who plotted the hours-long escape through more than four kilometres (2.5 miles) of twisting passageways and flooded chambers.
Rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn on Sunday said four of the team – affectionately dubbed by Thai social media Wild Boars 1,2,3,4 – were “safe” but released few details about their condition or identities.
He said the extraction effort would likely resume early on Monday.”We’ve been working continuously overnight,” a Chiang Rai government source told AFP on Monday morning, requesting anonymity, and confirming that there had only been a pause of the actual extraction operations.
Authorities continued to refuse to release details about the identities or conditions of the four who had escaped.”Don’t ask these kinds of questions.
Not wise questions to ask,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha told reporters in Bangkok on Monday morning when asked about the conditions of the four.
Prayut was scheduled to visit the cave site later on Monday, according to his official schedule.
Eight boys and their coach will spend another night trapped in Thai cave, AS IT HAPPENED
Thai authorities began on Sunday a dramatic operation to rescue 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded Thai cave, where they have been trapped for more than two weeks. The group was found alive following a gruelling search by divers, who are now working to free the youngsters.
With fresh monsoon rains due, rescuers warn the window of opportunity to evacuate the boys is “limited”.
