World praying
Rescues continue for Thai boys trapped for weeks in cave
Rescue workers saved the eighth boy from a flooded Thailand cave on Monday on the second day of an operation to retrieve 12 young soccer players and their coach who had been trapped underground for more than two weeks.
Monday’s rescue of four boys followed the same number being successfully brought out on Sunday. The remaining four boys and their coach will be freed on Tuesday, according to the rescue team.
Chinese rescuer Wang Ke, founder of the nongovernmental organization the Peaceland Foundation, whose team has been participating in the international rescue operation in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, since June 29, said the plan basically followed the previous successful path, except for several minor optimizations. But he said the details remained confidential as requested.
According to the Thai authorities, the plan currently under way requires two divers to accompany each of the boys as they dive through the narrow tunnels to reach the exit of the cave.
Extracting the whole team could take up to four days, but the initial success raised hopes that it could be done, The Associated Press said.
Chiang Rai acting governor Narongsak Osatanakorn, who is in charge of the mission, said the operation “went much better than expected”.
He said 13 foreign divers and five Thai Navy SEALs were taking part in the key leg of the rescue: taking the boys from where they have been sheltering and through dark, tight and twisting passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents.
“All the equipment is ready. Oxygen bottles are ready,” rescue operations chief Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters on Monday afternoon after announcing the second phase of the rescue bid had begun.
“In the next few hours we will have good news.”
Shortly after 5pm local time reporters saw a stretcher being carried from an ambulance into a waiting police helicopter, as rumors swirled of a fifth evacuation from the cave.
But the view of the stretcher was shielded by large umbrellas held up by police and soldiers.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said the boys who were rescued on Sunday were strong and safe, but needed to undergo medical checks.
Reuters also reported that the boys were in good health and quoted the head of the rescue team as saying that they were demanding fried rice in hospital.
A source told The Nation newspaper that the condition of one of the boys was improving after earlier concerns for his welfare.
The unnamed boy was listed as “red”, signifying a serious case. However, he is recovering and now listed as a stable “yellow”.
A Twitter user, Lisa Wilkinson, quoted Australian medical expert Richard Harris, a doctor who examined the 13 soccer team members in the cave, as saying that the weakest boys would be brought out first, according to The Nation.
This was contrary to earlier statements from the rescue team that the strongest would come out first.
According to Wang, the diving masks being used are specially designed, as the children do not need to keep the respirator in their mouth.
“The boys can breathe the way they do on land, which will be safer for themselves and the rescuers since the respirator won’t fall off when they feel nervous,” he said.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk posted videos online showing his Space X rocket company testing a “kid-sized submarine” in Los Angeles that the entrepreneur said could be sent to help the boys.
However, it is unclear if the device is part of any current rescue plans.
The boys can breathe the way they do on land, which will be safer for themselves and the rescuers ...” Wang Ke, Chinese rescuer