Team safe after daring cave rescue
‘Mission impossible’ ends with rescue of 12 boys and soccer coach from Thai cave
Exhausted and dishevelled, Thai rescue workers returned to their guesthouse in the northern town of Mae Sai late Tuesday night, desperate for bed and a shower but visibly relieved that their dramatic mission to save 12 young boys and their soccer coach had been a success.
“We are so happy. I feel like a mountain has been removed from my chest,” said one man carrying a helmet under his arm. “Do you know the film Armageddon, where they have to save the world? That’s what this has felt like.”
News broke shortly before 7 p.m. local time that the last of the 12 boys, aged 11 to 16, and Ekkapol Chantawong, their 25-year-old coach, had been pulled safely from deep inside the Tham Luang cave by a dedicated team of 19 elite divers, supported by thousands of volunteers.
The dangerous two-week searchand-rescue mission under terrifying conditions has transfixed the world, but rescue workers had largely shunned the attention, describing an atmosphere of intense concentration on the job.
Dr. Suttiwit Junpirom, a former Thai Navy Seal who was working at the entrance to the cave, described the moment Chantawong, the last remaining survivor, was stretchered out to medics as calm and subdued.
“When the last person came out there was no cheering, just relief that we had finished our mission,” he said.
“Inside the cave it was dark and quiet. Everyone was just very focused.”
By contrast, a huge cheer of joy erupted among tired local volunteers outside the cave as a medevac helicopter flew overhead in the early evening to take the final survivors to hospital.
As news broke that the entire team had been saved from the labyrinthine cave complex, jubilation spread across Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province, with car horns honking and social media lighting up with congratulations for the tireless rescue teams.
“This is an important event in my life,” said a visibly emotional Rachapol Ngamgrabuan, an official at Chiang Rai’s press office. “There were times when I cried. Happy. Very happy to see all Thai people love each other.”
“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what. All the 13 Wild Boars are now out of the cave,” said a Facebook post from the Thai Navy Seals, who had spearheaded the mission, referring to the name of the children’s football team.
The mood among rescuers had been overwhelmingly optimistic from the outset Tuesday despite heavy rainfall. Under overcast skies, Narongsak Osottanakorn, the Chiang Rai governor and head co-ordinator of the mission, correctly predicted shortly before noon that all five remaining survivors would be free by the end of the day.
Four boys and their coach were still waiting to be rescued after eight of their teammates had been extracted in two batches on Sunday and Monday.
Three Navy SEALs and an army medic had remained to look after them in their underground prison.
The boys started to leave the cave in quick succession shortly after 4 p.m., with all free by 7 p.m. Shortly afterward, the final SEALs and the doctor emerged.
Rescuers had begun the day of the third rescue mission in a buoyant mood. A support team of former Navy SEALs spotted at a guesthouse headed off at 8:30 a.m. with a traditional shout of “Hooyah!” after a rousing pep talk.
“We’re strong!” shouted the 15-strong group, in good spirits as they posed for photos and crossed their forearms in the Seals’ trademark symbol. When they returned shortly after 11 p.m., their “Hooyah!” was more subdued, but still defiant. Their mission was complete.
In escaping through a perilous, cragged passageway, much of which was submerged for almost two kilometres, the boys have shown courage and resolve in conditions that would challenge the most experienced divers.
Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Thai prime minister, confirmed that they had been given anti-anxiety medication to help stay calm.
Ivan Karadzic, a Danish diver involved in the rescue described the full terror of the cave in an interview with the BBC. “They are forced to do something that no kid has ever done before. They are diving in something considered (an) extremely hazardous environment in zero visibility,” he said.
Karadzic spoke of his own trepidation the first time he saw a child coming toward him underwater.
“I was very scared, because when I saw the diver and the kid in the horizon, we can’t see that far but maybe about 50 metres, I still didn’t know if it was a casualty or a kid,” he said. “But when I saw that he was alive and breathing and seemed to be all right, it felt very good.”
Despite their ordeal, the boys appear to be in good health although doctors said that they would be kept in isolation for at least a week.
The Chiang Rai governor said the “real hero of Tham Luang” was Saman Kunan, the former Navy Seal who died last week when he ran out of air on a return dive. “I wish Saman sleeps well,” he said. He also praised the cooperation of rescue workers. “Today Thai people, Team Thailand achieved the mission impossible.”