World watches rescue
THE world watched on last night as the sixth and seventh boys were rescued from a flooded cave on the second day of Thailand’s desperate cave rescue mission.
Witnesses said the two boys were put on stretchers and carried out of the cave, putting the total of boys rescued yesterday at three. Thai navy officials say a fifth boy was rescued earlier in the day. The boys are part of a group of 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in the cave since June 23.
It is understood another boy may be rescued by this morning.
Four other boys had al- ready been rescued from the e treacherous flooded subterranean complex on Sunday night. They are undergoing medical checks in hospital but are not yet allowed close contact with visitors due to fear of infections.
Led by international experts, the dive team returned to the flooded cave midmorning yesterday, aiming to rescue more of the group who have been trapped by rising waters in the labyrinth- like system since last month.
Despite oncoming rain threatening to further flood the tight Tham Luang cave complex where the stricken youth football team members remained four kilometres from the entrance, the chief of the rescue mission Narongsak Osottanakorn O was positive about the rescue mission.
“Today, we started evacuating boys at 11am and they will be out tonight,” the governor said.
He stressed that those running the rescue mission needed “full rest, time to retension the lifeline and to check the equipment”.
The main issue facing rescuers – apart from extreme 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 and their coach are trapped on a muddy ledge.
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. However, it appears the rescue team, involving 50 foreign and 40 Thai divers, are mastering this obstacle.
Mr Narongsak said the four boys rescued on Sunday had been taken to Chiang Rai hospital. “They were hungry,” he said. “They ate rice with pork and basil.”
Despite the good news, the parents and relatives of the boys were still continuing to endure an agonising wait to be reunited with their sons.
Local media reports say the rescued boys’ identities are not being disclosed to avoid making the experience even more painful for the parents of the boys still in the cave.
Supaluk Sompiengjai, mother of trapped 16- year- old Pheeraphat, who is still waiting for news, said: “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.”