‘Good news’ expected in Thai cave rescue mission
MAE SAI, Thailand: Rescue workers dived deep inside a flooded Thai cave for a second straight day Monday in a treacherous bid to save a trapped group of young footballers, with the mission chief promising more ‘good news’ after four of the 13 were saved.
Sunday’s surprisingly quick extraction of the initial batch of four, who were guided out of a network of flooded tunnels by elite divers, fuelled optimism that the others would also be quickly rescued.
“All the equipment are ready. Oxygen bottles are ready,” rescue operations chief Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters on Monday afternoon after announcing the second phase of the rescue bid had begun.
“In the next few hours we will have good news.”
Narongsak described Sunday’s initial rescue bid as ‘ D- Day’ when it was launched, and there were fears that any one of many potential pitfalls could prove deadly.
Among these were that none of the boys had scuba diving experience, and that they could easily panic while swimming underwater in darkness.
The death of a former Thai Navy SEAL diver who ran out of oxygen in the cave on Friday underscored the danger of the journey even for professionals.
But after the first four emerged late on Sunday afternoon, hopes began to rise of a fairytale ending to the ordeal.
Narongsak on Sunday described their journey out, escorted by elite divers, as ‘smooth’.
Thai premier Prayut ChanO- Cha was also due to visit the rescue operation late on Monday.
Still, for the relatives of the Wild Boar team members, an agonising wait continued.
“I am still waiting here at the cave, keeping my fingers crossed to see whether my son will be one of those to come out today,” Supaluk Sompiengjai, mother of Pheeraphat – known by his nickname ‘ Night’ – told AFP on Monday morning.
“We heard four boys are out but we do not know who they are. Many parents are still here waiting. None of us has been informed of anything.”
And although the four had been rescued, there were concerns they may have contracted an illness while in the cave, Narongsak said on Monday.
“They (the four) will be kept away from their parents for a while because we are concerned about infections,” Narongsak said.
And rain could still re- emerge as a threat, particularly if there are complications that could delay the extraction further.
Weather forecasters warned heavy rain could hit the area on Monday afternoon and continue through the week.
Authorities have repeatedly said the rain could re-flood crucial parts of the cave complex that have been drained and make the escape route much harder or even impossible to navigate.