4 RESCUED, 9 TO GO
First boys complete gruelling journey out of cave thanks to daring mission
Divers in six-hour mission to save stranded children
THE first four Thai schoolboys have been rescued from the flooded cave where they have been trapped for two weeks.
A daring six-hour bid was launched yesterday when 13 foreign divers and five navy SEALS went in to extract the kids.
Eight more youngsters and their coach, 25, remain stranded.
Rescue mission leader Narongsak Osottanakorn said: “It has been our masterpiece work.”
THE first four boys have been dramatically saved from the flooded Thai cave where they have been trapped for two weeks.
A daring rescue was launched yesterday, with specialists involved in the six-hour bid to bring the exhausted lads back up to dry land.
They had to dive, wade and clamber in total darkness through narrow tunnels.
Eight more football players and their coach, 25, remain stranded two-and-ahalf miles inside the waterlogged caves.
Celebrating the arrival of the four boys, who were airlifted to hospital, rescue mission leader Narongsak Osottanakorn said: “It has been our masterpiece work.”
But he added: “Our job is not completely done. We will have to do the next mission as successfully as the one we did today.”
The high-risk operation at the Tham Luang caves paused overnight as rescuers recovered and oxygen tanks were replenished along the route. It will resume today. Experts warned the mission could take four days to complete.
The first boys had to dive more than half a mile through flooded tunnels to safety. With a few days’ diving training, they squeezed through a terrifying underwater gap barely 38cm wide. Oxygen tanks must be removed to pass.
Torchlight affords visibility up to three feet in the murky waters so the boys, aged from 11 to 16, must feel their way along guide ropes which have been tethered the entire length of the cave journey.
They were fitted with full-face diving masks, harder to dislodge underwater than a traditional respirator, and each one was tethered to two divers, who will carry air tanks for them. One official reportedly named three of the freed lads as Nattawut “Tle” Takamsai, 11, Prajak Sutham, 14, and Pipat Bodhi, 15.
Their Wild Boars teammates must make the same treacherous trip to daylight, which could take eight gruelling hours depending on conditions.
Though the first mission was a success, it could easily have ended in catastrophe for the inexperienced swimmers.
Elite diver Samarn Kunan, 38, a former Thai navy SEAL, died trying to escape the maze of flooded tunnels last week.
And the danger is far from over for those still waiting on the ledge they were found on half a mile underground, as anxious families pray for their return.
Rescuers went ahead with the “last resort” mission after it emerged the lads cannot sit out the rainy season because water levels could get too high.
Hopes of finding an alternative route into the mountain cave network in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, have also been exhausted. Workers had been seen
It has been our masterpiece work but our job is not done, we’ve only won a small battle
NARONGSAK OSOTTANAKORN,
RESCUE LEADER, ON FIRST SUCCESS
drilling ahead of the rescue. Officials said it was the best chance of getting them out alive as water levels had dropped by up to 70cm.
However, they remain “at war with water” after torrential showers resumed just hours into the rescue.
Mr Osottanakorn said: “The current situation, with the air and water levels and the boys’ health, is the best yet.
“Today is D-day. At 10am, 13 foreign divers went in to extract the children along with five Thai navy SEALS.
“It is only a small battle we’ve won, but the war has not ended. The war ends when we win all three battles; to search, rescue and send them home.”
The healthiest boys went first, according to Mr Osottanakorn. They got the green light from Australian doctor, pro-diver Dr Richard Harris, after 15 nights trapped in the cave.
Chalongchai Chaiyakum, deputy army commander, said: “We will continue the mission until the last one is out. It could be two, three or four days.” British divers John Volanthen and Rick Stanton are among the 18-strong rescue team.
John has warned panic will be the biggest danger, saying: “Panic and adrenaline are great in certain situations, but not in cave diving.”
Tim Acton, 39, was invited to join the global effort by Thai navy SEALS. He flew from Bangkok, where he lives with wife Took and their young daughter Milly. Tim, whose parents live near Harwich, Essex, where he went to school, has already made several journeys into the caves.
There is a news blackout at the scene but Tim, who moved to the Far East 12 years ago, spoke to his dad John yesterday.
John said: “He’s been trained for just this sort of situation. He says there’s a frantic amount of activity but the Thai navy team and cave rescuers from all over the world are working as a terrific team. “Everyone has the same objective, to get everyone out alive.” Meanwhile 13 fully staffed medical teams have been stationed outside the cave, one for each lad and their coach. Each has its own helicopter and ambulance, at least one doctor, two nurses and a paramedic on standby to take them to hospital in Chiang Rai, some 70km away.
The group will be carefully examined and also checked for signs of cave disease, a potentially fatal lung infection caused by bat and bird droppings.
Marooned after venturing into the cave after football practice on June 23, they were found alive last Monday.
Bill Whitehouse, of the British Cave Diving Council, praised the rescuers.
He said: “If you are a non-swimming 11-year-old with no experience of diving who’s been trapped in a cave for 15 days, probably scared out of their wits, there’s a lot that could go wrong.
“Getting somebody in that state of mind through several hundred metres of flooded caves is no mean feat.”
US President Donald Trump also praised the effort, tweeting yesterday: “Very brave and talented people!”