8 boys now out of cave
Coach may face the night alone if last pupils are taken out today
EIGHT boys have now been rescued from the flooded Thai cave.
As the second group of four finally breathed fresh air yesterday, officials admitted the youths’ football coach faced spending a night alone in the dank, dungeon-like tunnels.
Rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn refused to rule out 25-year-old Ekaphol Chantawong being left inside the cave if the four remaining pupils are rescued today, because the divers’ system of taking that many at a time was working well. ‘For safety, the best number is four,’ he said.
Meanwhile, adding to their parents’ torment, the boys are not being allowed to hug them due to infection fears. They are being quarantined in hospital but are said to be in ‘good health’.
Yesterday, the rescue mission resumed with four more boys from the Wild Boars football team extracted to safety through miles of claustrophobic underground tunnels, which at one point narrows to as little as 38cm wide. Incredibly, the boys could not even swim before their ordeal.
Now just four of the youngsters and their coach remain in the hellish Tham Luang cave, in northern Thailand. The 13 were trapped during a visit on June 23 when monsoon floods blocked the cave exit and forced them back 5km into the mountain – where they have stayed on a ledge in the darkness.
Last night, emerging from the cave complex, some of the boys were carried to a fleet of helicopters amid frenzied cheering from onlookers.
In one dramatic scene at 6.30pm, an army medic hoisted a drip while another held a monitor as a team of soldiers carried a boy on a stretcher. The youngster was wrapped in a silver ‘space’ blanket to preserve what little body heat he had left.
The medical team were all wearing masks to protect against infection.
That boy and at least one other had to be airlifted to Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital, where the first four children from Sunday’s rescue mission are recovering.
From their dedicated ward, the boys have demanded meals of pad krapow – a Thai comfort dish made from spicy pork, basil leaves and rice. On doctor’s orders, they are getting no more than baby food, Mr Osottanakorn revealed.
‘The four children from today are in good health,’ he said. ‘Doctors have told us we must be careful about the food that is given to them because they are fragile after starving for many days. ‘They can normal food like diluted porridge.’
Anxious parents of the first four rescued had to wait 24 hours before being allowed to see their sons – and even then with no physical contact allowed.
Yesterday, public health inspector Dr Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong said the parents of the latest four would be allowed to see their children in the evening, but added: ‘Visitors will only be allowed to talk to the patients but no hugging or touching – and they need to leave a one- to two-metre distance.’
The boys are being monitored for breathing difficulties, hypothermia and an airborne lung infection known as ‘cave disease’ caused by bat and bird droppings, which can be fatal if untreated. The Thai authorities have refused to name any of the rescued boys until all of them are out.
British cave experts spearheaded yesterday’s operation which involved more than 100 divers. Seven British experts chaperoned the boys through the treacherous tunnels as part of a team that included 18 international cave divers and five elite Thai navy SEALS. Scores of volunteer cave divers from around the world helped by delivering air refill tanks and tightening the rope along the route, which includes ten ‘choke points’ where the mud-clogged tunnel is terrifyingly narrow – just 38cm wide at one point.
Friends of the British experts claimed they ‘never panic’ under water and would be keeping reastake
‘No hugging or touching’
suring eye contact with the children. Wearing full-face masks, the boys either swam or were pulled along.
Yesterday’s nine-hour mission – starting at 11am – was two hours shorter than Sunday’s.
One source who saw two of the four boys walk out of the cave yesterday said they looked ‘tired but healthy’, adding: ‘Imagine marathon runners. It’s like when they reach the finish line exhausted.’
Last night, the Thai prime minister flew to the cave to thank the rescue squad, and said the ordeal should serve as a wake-up call to all children to avoid it happening again. news@dailymail.ie