Thailand Boys passed on stretchers to get them out of cave

Australian divers have told of the dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a Thai cave system as each was passed ‘‘hand to hand’’ on stretchers between the rescuers to get them out. ‘‘They must have passed through about 150 hands,’’ one of the divers said at a briefing in Chiang Rai yesterday. ‘‘As you can imagine it was pretty crowded in there.’’ The three Australian divers at the briefing also told how a wall of water crashed through the caves moments after the rescue was completed. As the final Thai Navy SEAL emerged there was a ‘‘tsunami’’-like surge after a pump failed. Six Australian Federal Police divers and Dr Richard Harris, a specialist in hyperbaric medicine, helped support the Thai Navy diving team. Pictured, the last four Thai Navy SEALs come out safely. ❚ They have spent 17 days in a dark cave, where they survived by licking water off the walls. They have been attached to scuba diving masks and plunged, under sedation, through hundreds of metres of water-filled passageways. Yet, all things considered, the young footballers who were safely extracted over the past three days are remarkably healthy. Doctors treating eight of the boys reported yesterday that, apart from minor ailments, they were in surprisingly good condition and had eaten their first solid meal of chocolate spread on bread.

❚ Tragedy has struck the Australian doctor at the heart of the rescue of a young Thai soccer team with the death of his father, soon after his mission was completed. Adelaide anaesthetist and underwater cave explorer Richard ‘‘Harry’’ Harris risked his own life to make the treacherous journey to the underground chamber where the group of 13 had been trapped for two weeks. But as the rescue was completed on Tuesday Harris’ father passed away, his boss and MedSTAR clinical director Andrew Pearce said.