Experts fly in for ‘riskiest cave mission of all time’
TWO more expert divers have been drafted in to the international effort to save the boys in what has been described as ‘the most complex rescue mission’ ever attempted in caves.
British cave divers Chris Jewell, pictured above, and Jason Mallinson joined their countrymen Rick Stanton, John Volanthen and Vernon Unsworth to add their expertise to the operation in extremely hazardous conditions. The pair left Heathrow with half a ton of cave-diving equipment.
To underline the challenges facing the operation last night, seven rescue workers were hurt when their car went over a steep 70ft bank and overturned. The team was scouting the mountainside above the Tham Luang caves where the boys are trapped, searching for holes and fissures that might offer an alternative escape route.
On Friday, a former Thai navy diver was killed in the tunnels when he ran out of air.
His death showed that extracting the boys through cramped, water-filled tunnels using diving equipment is by far the riskiest option.
Welsh cave diving expert Martyn Farr, 67, said such a plan could be justified only if no other option was open and the boys were in imminent danger.
‘I’ve been a cave diver for 47 years and this is absolutely a last-ditch way to get them out,’ he said. ‘This is beyond a shadow of a doubt the most complex rescue ever attempted in the caving world.
‘When these youngsters waded in there, the tunnel was obviously negotiable. They had one torrential downpour and the flooding resulted. If you have a similar level of deluge, it will completely outstrip the ability of any pumping systems.’
Massive industrial pumps have been removing 13,000 litres of water an hour from the 3.2km of flooded caves and passages separating the boys from safety.
Mr Farr added: ‘In terms of complexity, nothing like this has been done, where you can’t see your hand in front of your face, where there are obstacles all along the route and of course you’re dealing with children who’ve never dived before.’