Wild Boars all freed from Thai cave in ‘miracle’ act
They were the words an entire globe had been waiting to hear for two-and-a-half long weeks.
“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what,” Thailand’s navy Seals wrote.
“All the 13 Wild Boars are now out of the cave. Everyone is safe.”
The last of the Wild Boars – a team of 12 junior football players and their coach – were finally escorted out of the treacherous depths of a flooded cave in northern Thailand yesterday.
Aid worker Payap Maiming said “hope and faith” had brought about a miracle.
A daring rescue mission in the treacherous confines of a flooded cave in Thailand has saved 12 boys and their football coach, who were trapped deep within the labyrinth.
The operation ended an 18-day ordeal that claimed the life of an experienced volunteer diver and riveted people around the world.
Cheers erupted at a local government office where dozens of volunteers and journalists were awaiting news of whether the intricate and high-risk rescue mission had succeeded, as helicopters taking the boys to hospital roared overhead.
Thailand’s navy Seals, who were central to the rescue effort, said on their Facebook page that the remaining four boys and their 25-year-old coach were all brought out safely yesterday.
Eight of the boys were rescued by a team of 18 Thai and international divers on Sunday and Monday.
Seven divers in the rescue team were from the UK, including Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, who were the first to reach the group last week.
“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what. All the 13 Wild Boars are now out of the cave,” the Seals said, referring to the name of the boys’ football team.“everyone is safe.”
A medic and three Seals who had stayed with the boys in their dark refuge deep inside the cave complex have also come out of the cave.
Payap Maiming, 40, who helped provide food and necessities to rescue workers
and journalists, said a “miracle” had happened.
The plight of the boys and their coach has captivated Thailand and much of the world - from the heartbreaking news that they were missing to the first flickering video of the huddle of anxious yet smiling boys when they were found ten days later by the British divers.
They were trapped in the Tham Luan Nang Non cave on 23 June, when they were exploring it after football practice and it became flooded by monsoon rains.
Each of the boys, aged 11 to 16 and with no diving experience, was guided out by a pair of divers in three days of intricate and high-stakes operations.
The route, in some places just a crawl space, had oxygen canisters positioned at regular intervals to refresh each team’s air supply.
Highlighting the dangers, a former Thai navy Seal died on Friday while replenishing the canisters.
Cave diving experts had warned it was potentially too risky to dive the youngsters out. But Thai officials, acutely aware that the boys could be trapped for months by monsoon rains that would swell waters in the cave system, seized a window of opportunity provided by relatively mild weather.
A massive water pumping effort also made the winding cave more navigable.
The confidence of the diving team, and expertise specific to the cave, grew after its first successful mission.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the boys were given an anti-anxiety medication to help with their perilous removal from the cave.
Jedsada Chokdumrongsuk, permanent secretary at the Public Health Ministry, said the first four boys rescued were able to eat normal food, though they could not yet take the spicy dishes favoured by many Thais. Two of the boys possibly have a lung infection.