More boys saved from Thai cave

ALL but four boys and their soccer coach had been rescued from the Tham Luang cave in Thailand late last night.

The rescue mission is more than halfway complete, with four more boys safely making their way out of the cave that has held them for 17 days.

This leaves just four more boys and their coach to be extracted as the mission moves faster than any had dared hope.

Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn said the rescuers had quickly learned to streamline their operations.

The second group of boys took about six hours to get from the ledge where they have been trapped to safety — two hours faster than Sunday’s extraction.

THE Tham Luang rescue mission is more than half done, with four more boys safely out of the cave that has held them prisoner for 17 days.

This leaves just four more boys and their coach to be extracted as the mission moves faster than any dared hope.

A tight-lipped Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn said the rescuers had streamlined their operations.

The second group of boys took only six hours to get from the ledge where they had been trapped to safety, two hours faster than Sunday’s extraction, which took eight hours.

The Governor said he expected things to move rapidly from now and, barring misfortune, there was a good chance the entire soccer team, who entered the cave on January 23, will be out today.

Troops and medics were gathered by a helicopter staging pad near the cave entrance to airlift the boys on the 60km hop to Chiang Rai hospital. The first chopper, carrying the fifth boy, departed about 5pm.

The boys will be quarantined for seven days, and examined for waterborne diseases and observed for their mental wellbeing.

The Governor stressed that those running the rescue mission needed “full rest, time to re-tension the lifeline and to check the equipment”.

The main issue facing rescuers — apart from extremely low visibility and the dual issue of oxygen depletion and carbon monoxide overload in the cave’s chambers — is a dangerous choke point about 1km from where the remaining boys are trapped.

It requires divers to lead the boys down a narrow tunnel, at points only 70cm wide, then crawl up above the water level, then down another tunnel once again into a deep pool.

It appears the rescue team, involving 50 foreign and 40 Thai divers, has mastered this obstacle. Asked whether Australian anaesthetist and diver Richard Harris had helped assess the boys, Narongsak said: “Every day.”

He said the four boys rescued on Sunday were all well. “They were hungry,” he said. “They ate rice with pork and basil. They are currently being quarantined.”

Narongsak was angry that media had breached the rescue team’s security by eavesdropping on closed walkie-talkie channels, and complained a drone had chased a military helicopter.

The Tham Luang cave network has, until now, been little understood by speleogists, who are fast getting a lesson on the 10km system’s twists and turns.

Divers are leading the boys out in pairs, with two escorting each boy and holding his tank to make his journey easier.

Local TV showed footage of air tanks being winched through the cave on rope pulleys as they began to attack the next phase of the mission.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is expected to visit the site.