4 more Thai boys out of flooded cave
First four boys rescued on Sunday in good condition in hospital
CHIANG RAI— Rescue workers in Thailand brought out four more boys on Monday from a flooded cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped for more than two weeks, bringing the total number rescued to eight. Medical personnel carried the four to waiting ambulances. Four boys were brought out on Sunday when the rescue operation was launched. They were in good condition in hospital.
CHIANG RAI— Rescue workers in Thailand brought out four people on Monday from a flooded cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped for more than two weeks, apparently taking the total number rescued to eight.
A Reuters witness near the Tham Luang cave in the northern province of Chiang Rai saw medical personnel carrying four people out of the cave to waiting ambulances over the course of the day.
The rescue operation was launched on Sunday and four boys were brought out that day. They were in good condition in hospital, officials said.
A fifth boy was brought out earlier on Monday, a Navy official said, and three more were seen being brought out over subsequent hours.
Reuters could not confirm the identity of the three people brought out in the evening and the chief of the rescue mission, Narongsak Osottanakorn, declined to comment.
Flooded chambers
The “Wild Boars” soccer team and their coach got trapped on June 23 when they set out to explore the vast cave complex after soccer practice, when a rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels.
British divers found the 13, huddled on a muddy bank in a partly flooded chamber several kilometers inside the complex, on Monday last week.
The dangerous bid to rescue the boys—aged between 11 and 16—got going again hours earlier on Monday after a break to replenish oxygen supplies and make other preparations.
Authorities have said the mission could take three or four days to complete. It is a race against the clock with heavy rain expected in the coming days.
The rescue team went into the cave to resume the opera- tion at 11 a.m., Narongsak told a news conference earlier, adding he expected good news.
Thirteen foreign divers and five members of Thailand’s elite Navy SEAL unit make up the main team guiding the boys to safety through narrow, submerged passageways that claimed the life of a former Thai Navy diver on Friday.
Narongsak said the “same multinational team” that retrieved the first four boys was deployed on Monday.
Narongsak said rescuers had to tighten a guide rope as part of their preparations for the second phase of the rescue.
Authorities have not confirmed the identity of the first four boys rescued.
Out of respect
Narongsak said the first four boys had not been identified out of respect for the families whose sons were still trapped, adding that the boys were being kept away from their parents due to fear of infection.
“The four children are well at Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital,” he said.
The fate of the boys and their coach has gripped Thailand and drawn international media attention.