DIVERS FACE TOUGH CHALLENGE TO FREE TRAPPED BOYS
‘Rescue is not a one-step process’, says team leader
Wang Yingjie waited at the entrance to the cave, paying close attention to any sign that his fellow divers would emerge from the water. It would take more than six hours to dive from the entrance to their destination, far away in the depth and darkness.
He and his team are part of the rescue crew for a missing Thai youth soccer team found alive late on Monday after being trapped for 11 days. The 12 boys, ages 11 to 16, went missing with their coach on June 23.
“It’s not a good time to bring the teens out now,” said Wang, leader of the Chigear nese team, which has been at the site in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, since Friday.
Lying beneath Doi Nang Non mountain, the Tham Luang cave stretches for up to 10 kilometers. It is one of the most difficult cave systems to navigate due to narrow passages and winding tunnels, and one of the most challenging for divers.
At the entrance, there is a sign prohibiting entry to the caves during the rainy season, which runs from July to November. Small huts have been built for keeping diving and other equipment, which are arranged in lines. Several teams of rescuers from several countries have been working in rotation round-the-clock.
“The most feasible solution is to help the kids dive out of the cave. No one can wait for four months in the cave until all the water is pumped out,” Wang said. “What if the cave is flooded with more water?”
“The divers have been able to get into the water and find the kids without any information available on where they might be. So once we become familiar with this area and are well-prepared, we can definitely bring them out.”
Two other options being suggested are draining water from the cave, or digging a hole from above to get the survivors out.
Wang said it is too difficult to dig another entrance and this could take a long time.
“Besides, all the resources — rescue personnel, equipment, etc. — are concentrated on the water side.”
Wang said the rescue team is teaching the boys how to dive and overcome their fear after they recover their strength. Meanwhile, the team is working on the construction of “chamber three”, a cavern used as a base to store food, oxygen tanks and diving gear, and also a transfer station between its shelter and the cave entrance.
“We Chinese rescuers have undertaken a lot of tasks, such as shipping the material, constructing the underwater transport corridors and clinic system as well as taking part in making rescue plans,” Wang said.
“It may take four, five or even more days until we can finally bring them out under the current weather conditions,” he said.
Wang disagrees with many who predict the soccer team can be rescued within a week.
“Besides, the rain is coming, and it will slow our pace. We need to do a lot before we can bring them out. We need to prepare for several scenarios,” he said. “Rescue is not a onestep process.”
Wang and his team decided to join their international colleagues when they saw breaking news of the soccer team’s plight, and applied to the authorities in China and Thailand. “We really want to use the experience we have accumulated since the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 to help those who are suffering.”
They arrived in Chiang Rai with their equipment on Friday and immediately set to work.
The boys and their coach were located by two British divers, who struggled through narrow passages and murky waters. Rescuers’ video showed the boys sitting or standing barefoot on a rock wearing red or blue shirts.
In footage on Facebook released by the Thai Navy SEALs, a diver asks the boys in English, “How many are there of you?”
One of the boys replies, “Thirteen.”
“Brilliant,” replies the diver. Another diver can then be heard saying in amazement, “They’re all alive.”
The boys did not know how long they had been trapped in the cave, and even asked what day it was.
Crying “thank you, thank you” in English, some of the boys were seen wiping away tears of joy on seeing the rescuers, asking them when they can get out.
“Not today, not today, we’re coming, many people are coming,” the rescuers told the boys, comforting and assuring them of their safety and telling them of the efforts being made to get them to safety as soon as possible.
Sura Jeetwatee, a doctor who joined the rescue operation, told Reuters the boys were able to walk and had survived by staying where they were and drinking water dripping from stalactites.
“They were smart to drink water in the cave,” the doctor said.
Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn told The Nation newspaper the health of the boys and their coach had been checked using a field assessment coding system in which red represents a critical condition, yellow serious and green stable.
“We found most of the boys were in a green condition,” he said. “Maybe some of them have injuries which would be classified as a yellow condition. But no one is in a red condition.”
The governor held a news briefing, telling soldiers, monks, government officials, journalists and volunteers at the site, “They are all safe.”
Rescuers shook hands and congratulated each other as occasional cheers broke out. Relatives waiting at a shelter were seen cheering, smiling and receiving calls.
A Facebook picture from the scene showed joyful relatives clustered near the cave looking at a photograph on an iPad taken by one of the divers that showed four of the boys smiling and appearing to be in good health.
A Thai named Koenpetch tweeted: “Since the news broke that children were trapped in the cave, everybody’s been looking at their phones and their tablets. We’ve been following the news, and I’m very glad, everybody’s very glad, that they have found them.
“But our mission is not completed … so far we’ve just found them. Now we have to bring them out and get them home,” the governor added.
Aisha Wiboonrungrueng, the mother of 11-year-old Chanin Wiboonrungrueng, smiled and hugged her family as news of the discovery spread, The Nation reported. She said she would wait until her son returned home and cook him Thai omelet, his favorite food.