All Thai boys, coach evacuated from cave
The dramatic dayslong rescue operation of a Thai youth soccer team came to a cheerful conclusion on Tuesday night when all 12 members and their coach were retrieved alive from the cave after weeks of fears, tears and finally joy, the Thai Navy SEALs team announced.
The third day of divers hauling the children, sometimes underwater, out of the cave concluded a rescue operation in which one diver died. The last four boys and the 25-year-old coach capped successes of the two previous days, during which eight boys were rescued from the dark, muddy cave.
“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what. All the thirteen Wild Boars (the soccer team) are now out of the cave,” the SEALs posted on their Facebook page.
A doctor and three SEALs who had stayed with the team emerged safely from the treacherous cave hours later.
Journalists at the scene reported there were cheers and sighs of relief at the volunteer site soon after the last team member left the cave.
According to Thai authorities, the rescue plan required two divers to accompany each of the boys through the cave. Along the way, they had to climb, squeeze themselves through narrow passages and dive through the cave’s heavily submerged sections.
The boys wore full-face masks and were between two diving specialists, tethered with the diver in front, who also carried the boy’s compressed air bottle. Guide ropes and rows of air tanks were installed every 25 meters to ensure their safety.
The evacuation started on Sunday morning and by evening four of the boys had been rescued. The mission got going on Monday and managed to pull another four boys out.
World leaders offered congratulations on the successful rescue effort.
The first eight team members were in good health mentally and physically, but were unlikely to be able to take up an offer to attend the World Cup final in Moscow, doctors said on Tuesday.
“They can’t go, they have to stay in the hospital for a while ,” Thong ch a iL er twila ira ta nap on go ft he public health ministry replied when asked about the offer to attend Sunday’s match.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino invited the youngsters and their coach to the World Cup final if they could be rescued in time and were healthy enough to travel. Gianni later acknowledged the team members wouldn’t be able to attend.
Jessada Chokdamrongsuk, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, said the group would remain under observation at the hospital for at least a week.
“They’re likely to watch it on television,” Jessada said.
CHIANG RAI, Thailand — The first eight boys rescued from a Thai cave are in decent physical and mental health, with some even asking for chocolate, but they remain in hospital and under psychological observation for any lasting damage from their underground ordeal.
Doctors are taking no chances with their physical recovery, quarantining the group, administering tetanus and rabies shots, and putting two of the team on antibiotics after they showed signs of pneumonia.
They have also been given sunglasses to wear as they adjust to daylight after days trapped in the dark.
Authorities had closely guarded the details of the boys’ condition, who will be monitored in hospital for a week.
But at a Tuesday news conference, they were optimistic about the progress of the eight “Wild Boars” to emerge so far, in two long and complex days of operations to free them.
“They are all in good spirits and happy to be out,” Jedsada Chokdamrongsuk, permanent secretary of the public health ministry, told reporters.
“Everyone is in a good mental state,” he said but added psychologists will work with them.
Experts had warned of possible long-term psychological damage, such as PTSD, from the ordeal, including the initial 10 days underground, in darkness and without contact with the outside world.
“It is certainly a risk and can take some time to manifest itself and make its presence known,” said Andrew Watson, a specialist on rescues from mines and floods.
“I am not sure about children and how they will react.”
Yet initial reports suggest the eight boys, aged 12-16, were in good shape, despite spending more than two weeks underground.
“The boys were asking for bread with chocolate spread,” Jedsada said.
The final four and their coach were rescued later on Tuesday after 17 nights inside the cave system.
Quarantine
Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, Inspector General of the public health ministry, said the first four — aged 14 to 16 — taken out on Sunday were eating normal, plain food.
Spicy Thai basil leaves on rice, or Pad Krapao, was the meal of choice for the group of four boys after they were rescued from Tham Luang Cave on Sunday, rescue mission chief Narongsak Osottanakorn said on Monday, The Nation newspaper reported.
“They made a special request that they wished to have Pad Krapao,” he said.
For now the boys remain in quarantine but some of their parents have been able to see their children through the glass.
After more lab results are scrutinized, parents of the first four will after 48 hours be allowed to visit their children at their beds wearing protective gear.