Cave Rescue 'Today is D-Day'
MAE SAI: The cave rescue of 12 Thai boys and soccer coach could take two to four days, a Thai official says.
The dangerous rescue mission to free the group trapped inside a Thai cave for two weeks began at 3pm NZ time yesterday. It was hoped the first survivor would emerge about 2 o’clock this morning.
Eight Australian divers are involved in the treacherous mission and a team of Australian medics assessed the boys’ condition before the rescue effort got the green light yesterday morning.
A Thai army commander said the full rescue could take two to four days, depending on conditions inside the partially flooded cave.
According to Majorgeneral Chalongchai Chaiyakam, the 13 ‘‘will continuously come out in approximately 24 days, which all may change depending on weather and water conditions’’.
Earlier, head of the rescue mission, Na rongsakOsott an akorn told reporters :‘‘ Today is DDay’’.
‘‘The weather is good. The water level is good. The divers are ready. The boys are physically, emotionally and mentally ready to come out,’’ he added.
Each boy would be escorted by two divers, and they would be brought out gradually, one at a time, Narongsak said.
A total of 18 scuba divers are involved in the effort, 13 foreigners and five Thais.
Australian Foreign Affairs confirmed eight Australian divers were involved.
Narongsak said Australian medics had also entered the cave early yesterday to evaluate the boys’ health and confirmed they were well enough to undertake the journey out.
Parts of the cave remained underwater, meaning the group would need to pass through some passages using scuba equipment. But the water levels inside the cave have receded enough in recent days — thanks to intensive drainage efforts — that many parts can now be crossed by walking, Narongsak said.
The group of a dozen boys, aged from 11 to 16, and their 25yearold coach have been trapped inside the cave since flash floods blocked their exit on June 23.
In recent days parts of the cave were totally submerged.
The 4km route from the rocky shelf where the group has been waiting to the cave’s exit has taken even professional cave divers as long as five or six hours to complete.
The perilous nature of an attempted scuba diving rescue was underscored on Friday, when a Thai diver died while bringing oxygen tanks into the labyrinthine cave complex.
Officials have also been frantically working to remove rocks and other debris from the exit path.
Water currents inside the cave in recent days were strong, visibility was nonexistent in parts and the underwater route was complicated by many narrow passages and jagged rocks.
Some of the boys are not strong swimmers.
❛ Today is DDay. . . The divers are ready. The boys are physically,
emotionally and mentally ready to come
out