Four of 12 schoolboys rescued from flooded cave in Thailand

A helicopter flies them to Chiang Rai city before an ambulance takes them to hospital

FOUR of 12 Thai schoolboys were rescued from a flooded cave yesterday as divers launched a daring and dangerous mission to free the children and their football coach, who have been trapped underground for more than two weeks, officials said.

Thirteen foreign divers and five members of Thailand’s elite navy SEAL unit guided the boys to safety through narrow, submerged passageways that claimed the life of a former Thai navy diver on Friday.

As night fell, the operation to rescue the remaining eight boys — some as young as 11 and weak swimmers — and their coach was called off until today morning.

Authorities highlighted the tiny passageway near T-Junction, or “Sam Yak” in Thai, as the most dangerous element of the journey for the Wild Boars team.

“Today we managed to rescue and send back four children to Chiang Rai Prachanukrua Hospital safely,” the head of the rescue operation, Narongsak Osottanakorn, said.

The rescue teams needed about 10 hours to prepare for their next operation, involving about 90 divers — 50 of them from foreign countries, he said.

A helicopter flew the four boys to the nearby city of Chiang Rai, where they were taken by ambulance to hospital.

Their ordeal has drawn huge media attention in Thailand and abroad. Getting the boys out safely could be a boost for Thailand’s junta ahead of a general election next year.

“Today is D-Day,” Narongsak had earlier said.

Bursts of heavy monsoon rain soaked the Tham Luang Cave area in northern Chiang Rai province yesterday and storms were expected in the coming weeks, increasing the risks in what has been called a “war with water and time” to save the team.

The boys, aged between 11 and 16, went missing with their 25year-old coach after football practice on June 23, setting out on an adventure to explore the cave complex near the border with Myanmar and celebrate a boy’s birthday.

The rescue teams had rehearsed the plan for several days, Narongsak said, and had managed to drain the water level in the cave considerably, but needed to move fast.

“If we wait and the rain comes in the next few days, we will be tired again from pumping and our readiness will drop. If that’s the case, then we have to reassess the situation,” he said.

An Australian doctor, who is part of the rescue mission, checked the health of the boys on Saturday night and gave the allclear for the operation to proceed.

The boys were discovered by British divers Richard Stanton and John Volanthen last Monday.