THAI CAVE RESCUE UNDERWAY
Team of divers gets four boys out
They allowed themselves smiles, but there was no cheering among the exhausted rescuers emerging from the Tham Luan cave system in northern Thailand Sunday night. With the first of the monsoon rains already falling on the limestone hills above their heads, Thai navy SEALs and elite cave divers from around the world had pulled off what many thought was impossible — guiding four boys though a terrifying underwater journey in one of the most daring rescue operations of modern times.
But with heavy rain setting in at dusk, it was plain to authorities and locals alike that they now faced a race against time to rescue the remaining eight boys and their 25-year-old coach from their air pocket prison four kilometres inside the mountain, and the biggest challenge was yet to come.
The four boys who swam out Sunday were selected because they were the strongest of the team. It is unclear how weaker, more vulnerable members will manage the journey.
“If we wait and the rain comes in the next few days, we will be tired again from pumping and our readiness would drop. If that’s the case, then we have to reassess the situation,” Narongsak Osottanakorn, the former Chiang Rai governor, who is overseeing the rescue, warned late Sunday night.
“We can only carry on the operation once we are ready — and this will be done soon, because the air tanks and other systems have to be reinstalled,” he added as rescue work was halted for the night.
Sunday’s operation will be remembered as an extraordinary achievement in a drama that has left Thailand and the world holding its breath.
The Wild Boars soccer team and their assistant coach went missing after heavy rains blocked the exit of the cave complex, which they were exploring after practice, on June 23.
The group were found sheltering on a ledge in an air pocket four kilometres inside the cave on July 2 by Rick Stanton, a British former firefighter, and John Volanthen, an IT consultant from Brighton, England, who are considered among the best cave divers in the world.
Authorities had considered several possible strategies, including drilling an escape shaft from above or pumping out enough water to enable them to walk out.
Diving out was always considered the most dangerous option. A Thai navy SEAL involved in the rescue died after running out of oxygen in the tunnel on Friday.
“It’s dangerous (even) to the most experienced divers to go through,” one diver said. “It’s pretty scary.”
The main risk is that the team could run out of air supply before reaching safety, said Tony Haigh, a spokesman for the British Cave Rescue Council. The other risk is becoming trapped by an obstacle they cannot see because the divers’ field of view will be limited in the muddy, brown water.
“Clearly there is a huge risk of someone panicking if they are not used to the diving environment. It happens to adults in the open water, never mind children in a dark cave,” Haigh said. None of the boys can swim, but they have been given extensive diving lessons since being found. “I’ve no doubt some will be more apprehensive than others.”
But after forecasters warned that fresh monsoon rains were imminent, rescuers realized they had no choice but to act quickly or risk the boys drowning.
“Today is D-Day,” Narongsak announced earlier Sunday.
“A new storm is coming. If we wait and rainwater comes in, our readiness will be lower than now. There is no other day that we are more ready than today. Otherwise, we will lose the opportunity.”
Before the rescue attempt was announced Sunday morning, ambulances were seen zipping up a muddy pathway to take their stations. Officials moved the large media contingent away from the rescue site to make way for those working directly on the extraction.
Thirteen international divers set off to reach the trapped group at 9 a.m. Sunday. They were supported by a 90-strong team of Thai navy SEALs and elite divers from countries including Britain, Australia, the U.S. and China.
They then escorted four of the boys, who have been given rudimentary diving training, out on a route that required them to swim for a full kilometre underwater before reaching the part of the cave where the flooded section ends.
The boys were equipped with “positive pressure” full-face masks designed to prevent any water leaking in and clung to a guide rope to make sure they did not panic or lose their way.
The team had to squeeze through gaps just 40 centimetres wide, where rescue divers had to remove their oxygen tanks and push the equipment ahead of them.
The first survivor clambered to safety at 5:40 p.m. local time.
Thai media named the first boy out as Mongkol Boonpia, 13. However, his mother, who has been camping by the cave entrance, said she had not been told if her son was among the four rescued. She planned to stay at the cave site overnight.
At least two of the rescued boys were helicoptered to the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital, 60 kilometres away. A third was being treated at a navy SEAL field hospital at the cave entrance.