Four more pulled out of Thai cave; 5 remain
mae sai (thailand) — Elite divers hauled four more young footballers out of a flooded Thai cave on Monday, authorities said, bringing to eight the number saved in a stunning rescue mission but still leaving five others trapped.
“Hooyah,” the Thai Navy SEALs, who have played a crucial role in the against-the-odds operation, said in a Facebook post as they announced that a total of eight members of the Wild Boars football team had been rescued on Sunday and Monday.
Thais have been fixated on the crisis, hoping desperately for the safe return of the 12 boys and their 25-year-old football coach, after they ventured into the Tham Luang cave complex after practice and became trapped by rising waters more than a fortnight ago.
The extraction of the four on Monday followed a pattern similar to the previous day, with the youngsters emerging in quick succession just before nightfall.
But although the eight were rescued, there were concerns they may have contracted an illness while in the cave. Rescue operations chief Narongsak Osottanakorn said after the first four boys were rescued that they would be quarantined “for a while because we are concerned about infections”. —
The water level is still at a satisfactory level and we have enough teams to complete the mission Narongsak Osottanako, Rescue operations chief
mae sai— Eight of the 12 boys trapped in a flooded and labyrinth cave system in far northern Thailand are safe and recuperating in a hospital after another four were brought out by divers on the second day of a high-stakes rescue operation, a top official said.
The boys brought out of the dark, winding cave on Monday are “safe and conscious,” said Chiang Rai province acting Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn, who is in charge of the rescue effort. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was visiting all eight in the nearby hospital that they were helicoptered to, he said.
Monday’s operation began at 11 am and took nine hours, two fewer than Sunday, with rescuers helped by the experience they’ve accumulated, Narongsak told a news conference punctuated with rounds of applause.
“We have more operating personnel. And we have more expertise than yesterday,” he said.
But rescuing the remaining five people, which includes the boys’ 25-year-old soccer coach, could take more than one operation, Narongsak said.
The urgent and dangerous effort has involved the boys diving through the cave’s tight and twisting passages, guided by experienced divers.
The Facebook page of the Thai Navy SEALs, who have been central to the rescue operation, was updated on Monday night to say “two days, eight boars” — a reference to the Wild Boars, the name of the boys’ soccer team. The message, like most posted by the SEALs, ended with the fighting cheer adopted from the US Navy: Hooyah.
Authorities have been rushing to extract the boys, ages 11-16, and their coach from the cave as the annual monsoon bears down on the mountainous region in far northern Chiang Rai province. Workers have been laboring around the clock to pump water out of the cave, and authorities said on Monday that heavy downpours overnight did not raise water levels inside.
Earlier Monday, Narongsak said the four rescued the day before were in good spirits. “This morning they said they were hungry and wanted to eat khao pad grapao,” he said, referring to a Thai dish of meat fried with chili and basil and served over rice.
Still, the four were undergoing medical checks in a hospital in Chiang Rai city, the provincial capital, and were not yet allowed close contact with relatives due to fear of infections. Relatives were able to see them through a glass partition,
The boys brought out of the dark, winding cave on Monday are ‘safe and conscious’
The divers that were assembled from many countries are proud to have conducted this operation until its success Narongsak Osatanakorn, In charge of the rescue effort.
Narongsak said. The boys and their coach went exploring in the massive Tham Luang Nang Non cave on June 23 after a soccer practice, and were cut off when a rainstorm flooded the cave. A massive international search operation was launched and it took 10 days to locate the boys, who had taken shelter on a dry slope deep in the complex.
The search and rescue operation has riveted people both in Thailand and internationally, with journalists from across the globe traveling to this town along the border with Myanmar to report on the ordeal. — AP