Stranded boys appear healthy
MAE SAI: The Thai football teammates stranded for more than a week in a partly flooded cave said they were healthy on a video released yesterday, as heavy rains forecast for later this week could complicate plans to safely extract them.
The 12 boys and their coach are seen sitting with Thai Navy Seals in the dark cave with their skinny faces illuminated by the beam of a flashlight.
The boys, many wrapped in foil warming blankets, take turns introducing themselves, folding their hands together in a traditional greeting and saying their names and that they are healthy.
The video, lasting about a minute, was posted on the Navy Seal Facebook page yesterday. The navy later released two more videos of the boys.
The boys, aged 1116, and their 25yearold coach, disappeared after they went exploring in the Tham Luang cave in northern Chiang Rai province after football practice on June 23.
They became trapped when heavy rains flooded the cave, but were found by divers on Monday night (local time).
Authorities said the boys were being looked after by seven members of the Thai Navy Seals, including medics, who were staying with them inside the cave. They were mostly in stable condition and have received highprotein drinks.
In all of the videos the boys have appeared in good spirits. In the most recent videos a Navy Seal is shown treating minor cuts on the feet and legs of the boys with antibiotic ointment. Several of the boys are seen smiling as they interact with the Navy Seal, who cracks jokes.
While efforts to pump out floodwaters are continuing, some Thai officials have indicated heavy rains forecast for this weekend could force them to decide the boys should swim and dive out using the same narrow passageways through which their rescuers entered.
Chiang Rai provincial Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn said yesterday the boys had been practising wearing diving masks and breathing, but he did not believe they had attempted any practice dives. He said it was not known when an extraction would be attempted. — AP