First four trapped boys rescued

CHIANG RAI, Thailand — Four young members of a Thai soccer team have been pulled from a flooded cave in northern Thailand where they have been trapped for more than two weeks, the provincial governor said at a news conference on Sunday.

Eight others and the coach remain trapped. Acting provincial Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn, who heads the operation, said divers plan to resume the rescue on Monday morning. He said the rescued boys’ heath is “perfect” and called it the “best situation”.

“Our operation was more successful than we expected,” he said, explaining the boys had to travel 1 kilometer underwater to escape the cave.

Authorities in northern Chiang Rai province began the dangerous mission to bring out the 12 boys and their soccer coach earlier on Sunday.

The team went missing on June 23. They were located on a small cliff about 4 km from the cave entrance when the search entered the ninth day on July 2.

The operation to rescue the 12 boys began in the morning. The governor said two divers were accompanying each boy.

LINH PHAM / GETTY IMAGES An ambulance rushes boys rescued from a cave to a hospital in Chiang Rai, Thailand, on Sunday.