Thai cave rescuers celebrate
More than 100 rescue workers were forced to flee the Tham Luang cave on Tuesday night, moments after the final Thai Navy Seal who had stayed with the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach was free – after the pumps holding back floodwaters failed.
The failure of the pumps came about three hours after the coach had been rescued from the cave and underscores the fact that rescue workers were racing against time, and the rain, to complete the rescue operation.
Earlier, ‘‘Hooyah’’ was the rallying cry of a nation as the rescue of 12 boys and their football coach from the Tham Luang cave system in northern Thailand came to a joyous end.
The Thai navy SEALs chant rang around the media centre opposite the site when news filtered through around 6.30pm local time on Tuesday (11.30pm NZT) that coach Ekapol Chanthawong, 25, was the last to be extracted from the cave after more than two weeks.
The chant also greeted the head of the rescue mission, Narongsak Osottanakorn, as he entered a press conference three hours later to the glow of local and international media spotlights.
‘‘We did something no-one else thought was possible,’’ he said as he thanked the Thai and international rescue team.
He was momentarily interrupted with cries of ‘‘Hooyah! Hooyah!’’ by jubilant support staff.
‘‘We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what. All the 13 Wild Boars are now out of the cave,’’ Thai Navy SEALs posted on Facebook, referring to the football team name. ‘‘Everyone is safe.’’ Narongsak also paid tribute to Lieutenant Samaan Kunan, the ex-navy SEAL diver who died during a mission last week while delivering oxygen in the cave, saying his sacrifice would be remembered.
The astonishing rescue story has gripped Thailand and the world since the group was discovered alive by two British cave divers on July 2, nine days after disappearing while exploring the cave system.
More than 150 people inside the cave – Thais, Australians, Americans, Chinese and more – helped pass the boys – who were on stretchers – hand-by-hand out of the cave once they had reached chamber three.
At times, the boys, who had been given a sedative, were dragged through on ‘‘skeds’’, or stretchers, through sections of the cave but sometimes they had to dive.
Australian doctor Richard Harris and Craig Challen, from Perth, a close friend who Harris had asked to join him on the mission, swam all the way to the boys on each of the three rescue mission days and did not leave the cave until after the boys had been evacuated to safety.
Harris declined to comment but did acknowledge the huge outpouring of support and thanks that had come from Australia and around the world for his efforts.
It later emerged that his father died on Tuesday evening.
According to the South Australian Ambulance Service, his father died ‘‘a short time after the successful rescue operation in Thailand’’.
The moment when the final Navy Seal who had stayed with the boys emerged was electric. A huge roar began deep in the cave and reverberated down to the entrance as it dawned on more and more of the rescue workers, closer and closer to the cave exit, that their mission was complete.
‘‘I was right down the bottom but you could hear all the cheers,’’ an Australian diver said. ‘‘It was like a Mexican wave when we got the last diver out, that’s when the cheers and shouting happened.’’
A Thai health official says the soccer team-mates lost weight during their two-week ordeal but had water while they were trapped and are all in good health.
Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, a public health inspector, said one member of the final group of four boys and the coach had a slight lung infection.
Two of the first group had a lung infection as well, and Thongchai said they would need medicine for seven days. Yesterday, some of the boys had eaten their first solid meal of chocolate spread on bread. –