Four more boys are brought to surface in Thai cave rescue
FOUR more boys have been brought out of a flooded cave in northern Thailand as the ongoing rescue operation concluded for the second day, Thai officials have said.
The four are now “safe and conscious” in hospital after they were extracted from the Tham Luang Nang Non caves in Chiang Rai, officials said.
Eight of the 12 young footballers have now been brought out of the treacherous cave system by divers, including four who were removed on Sunday on the first day of the operation.
The boys and their 25-yearold coach have been trapped for more than two weeks after heavy rains flooded the sprawling cave network, comprising caverns connected by tight passages.
Elite British divers have been assisting in the painstaking rescue operation.
On Sunday officials waited several hours before confirming the safe rescue of the first four boys.
Chiang Rai acting governor Narongsak Osatanakorn said he is not sure if the remaining five people in the caves will be extracted in one or more operations.
He said Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who visited the cave site yesterday, has gone to visit all eight boys in hospital
The Facebook page of the Thai Navy Seals, who have been central to the rescue operation, was updated last night to say “two days, eight boars” — a reference to the Wild Boars, the name of the boys’ football team.
Authorities have been rushing to rescue the boys, aged 1116, and their coach from the cave as the annual monsoon bears down on the mountainous region in the far northern Chiang Rai province.
Workers have been labouring round-the-clock to pump water out of the cave, and authorities said heavy downpours overnight did not raise water levels inside. The boys guided through the cave’s dark, tight and twisting passages on Sunday were happy and in good health, authorities said.
“This morning they said they were hungry and wanted to eat khao pad grapao,” Mr Narongsak said, referring to a Thai dish of meat fried with chili and basil and served over rice.
The four are undergoing medical checks in a hospital in the provincial capital and were not yet allowed close contact with family due to fear of infections. Relatives were able to see them through a glass partition, the governor added.