Boys and coach alive after 10 days in cave
RESCUE STILL TO BE COMPLETED
TWELVE boys and their football coach who had been missing for more than a week in a cave in northern Thailand have been found alive, officials have said.
The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach disappeared when flooding trapped them after they entered Tham Luang Nang Non cave on June 23.
Navy divers and rescue workers entered a narrow passageway early yesterday after passing through a key chamber on Sunday whose high, murky waters had previously blocked their progress.
Narongsak Osatanakorn, governor of Chiang Rai province, said the 13 were being rescued, adding: “We found them safe. But the operation isn’t over.”
Mr Narongsak said the passageway the divers were making their way through is extremely narrow, making it difficult for divers to fit through with all their gear.
They were repeatedly blocked by rising water that has filled sections of the cave and forced them to withdraw for safety reasons.
When water levels dropped on Sunday, the divers went forward with a more methodical approach, deploying a rope line and extra oxygen supplies along the way.
He said it was expected that in their condition, the boys would at first not be able to move their limbs, but medical teams would initially treat them in place and the diving teams included doctors.
The navy divers’ Facebook page said that since Sunday night, the divers had reached a bend where the half-mile passage splits in two directions.
The divers were aiming for a sandy chamber on higher ground in the cave, where they believe the group would be safe.