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World News See other World News Articles Title: First boys rescued from cave in northern Thailand after two-week ordeal The first members of a Thai soccer team were rescued Sunday from a flooded cave where they had been trapped for two weeks, Thai officials said. Four boys were brought out of the cave, announced the Thai navy SEALs, who were leading the rescue operation. There was no immediate word on their condition. Two ambulances were seen leaving from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in northern Thailand, nearly nine hours after an operation began to rescue the 12 boys and their 25-year-old soccer coach. The dramatic mission began at 10 a.m. Sunday under gray skies, as officials feared that an incoming storm could send water flooding back into the cave and make an escape even more difficult. The acting governor of Chiang Rai province, Narongsak Osatakorn, told reporters earlier Sunday that it could take at least 11 hours for the first person to be rescued, and a Thai army commander said the entire operation could take up to four days. But the first four boys had emerged by 8 p.m., quite a bit ahead of schedule — and all the more remarkable because the boys are novice swimmers, with no diving experience. “I assure you that the boys are physically, emotionally and mentally ready to come out, no matter what challenges lie ahead,” Narongsak said in announcing the start of the operation. Thirteen foreign divers and five Thai divers were leading the rescue, with each boy accompanied by two divers, officials said. The journey was harrowing: more than a one-mile dive through narrow passageways filled with muddy water that renders visibility close to zero and flows so fast in some places that even experienced divers have had to stop or turn back. The Thai Navy SEALs gave the boys crash courses in using diving masks and breathing underwater. It usually takes divers about five hours from where the boys were to reach chamber three, a dry point where the SEALs have set up a command post, and from which rescue officials said the boys could likely walk the rest of the way. Rescue teams had installed a static rope along the dive path, giving the boys a guide, and experienced divers were reportedly positioned at various points along the way for assistance. Spare oxygen canisters had also been placed along the route. Underscoring the danger in the fast-moving waters, a former Thai Navy SEAL died on Friday while moving the canisters, reportedly due to lack of oxygen. The rescue dive began with a sense of urgency after authorities failed to settle on an alternate means of bringing the boys out. Drilling a hole into the mountainside to lift them to safety – as 33 Chileans were rescued from a collapsed mine in 2010 – was dismissed because the boys’ location couldn’t be pinpointed accurately, and it wasn’t clear how drilling could alter the mountain’s geology. Some officials initially said that the boys could remain where they were – on a dry rock ledge near a point inside the cave known as Pattaya Beach – for up to several months as long as they were supplied with food and medicines. But authorities became worried in recent days as oxygen levels inside the cave dropped due to a high presence of rescue workers. Teams have used high-powered pumps to empty more than 100 million of gallons of water out of the cave. On Sunday morning, Thai officials said that water levels were at their lowest point in several days, contributing to the decision to launch the operation. The SEALs, which have stationed divers and medics with the boys for the past week, posted a message on their Facebook page on Sunday promising to bring the group back safely. “We, the Thai team and the international team, will bring the Wild Boars home,” read the message, referring to the name of the boys’ soccer team. The boys and their coach biked to the cave after soccer practice on June 23 and ventured deep inside the six-mile-long cave, a popular tourist attraction but one that is mostly deserted in the summer due to the risks of monsoon rains. Rescue workers said that a storm arrived while the group was deep inside, where they couldn’t hear the rain, and were trapped when water sloshed into the cave. They were found a week later by a pair of British volunteer divers who were part of a rescue mission that has drawn divers and experts from around the world — including U.S. military personnel from Japan, bird’s nest collectors who hunted for shafts in the rock face and members of Elon Musk’s SpaceX venture. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
#2. To: Ada (#0)
Great !
Water levels were the lowest since the start, and the rescuers had to take advantage of that.
There are no replies to Comment # 3. End Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
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