Prayers for children trapped in flooded cave
Desperate parents led a prayer ceremony outside a flooded cave in northern Thailand where 12 children and their football coach have been trapped for days, as military rescue divers with food aid resumed their search yesterday.
Hundreds of people have joined the search for the youngsters, who went into the Tham Luang cave on Saturday, but were trapped when heavy rains flooded its main entrance.
Relatives camped out by the cave to perform traditional rituals, making offerings and reciting prayers for their children’s safe return.
“I asked for all God’s wishes, but I’m certain in my heart that they will survive. They have been inside the cave before,” the father of one of the young footballers said.
Some relatives wailed at the cave entrance near the Laos and Myanmar border, where huge crowds have gathered.
“My child, I’m here to get you now,” one crying parent said, while another screamed: “Come home my child.”
The children, aged between 11 and 16, are thought to have retreated farther into the tunnel as monsoon rains fell and flooded the cave, believed to be several kilometres long.
Rescuers found bicycles, football boots and backpacks at the entrance to the site on Monday, and divers said they had spotted footprints in one of the cave’s chambers.
Park officials, police and soldiers were dispatched on foot, while an aerial team was also being sent to the area to look for another entrance to the cave. Navy divers equipped with oxygen tanks and food rations entered the cave early yesterday in northern Chiang Rai province, where rain continued to fall.
Rescue teams were also sent in to light the inside of the cave and drain water from the site, while an underwater robot was being prepared to survey the area and help rescue efforts.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said they were working round the clock to find the youngsters.
“We’re working against time, but we’re not panicking,” he said.
Forecasters said rains were expected to continue yesterday, which could hamper rescue efforts.
Tham Luang cave is not hugely popular with foreign tourists because of its remote location, but draws locals to worship at small Buddha statues inside.
The monsoon season, from May to October, often causes flooding and landslides in Thailand.
Fifteen people died in flooding in December that submerged areas of Thailand’s south and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes.
This is not the first cave accident in the country.
Six foreign tourists and two Thai guides were killed in 2007 when they were swept away by flash floods in a cave in Khao Sok national park in southern Thailand. The fiance of one of the tourists killed in that accident survived by clinging to a ledge in the cave for 21 hours.