Rescuers at cave in Thailand race against rain fear
Rescuers continue the treacherous mission today to shepherd the remaining four boys and their soccer coach out — but torrential rains loom, bringing the risk of floods. As much of the world holds its breath, the region’s governor remained hopeful Monday: “We have more expertise than yesterday.”
MAE SAI, Thailand — The generals and other officials overseeing the desperate operation to rescue 12 young soccer players and their coach from a flooded cave labyrinth in Thailand’s sweltering far north were only half joking when they quipped Monday that success was in the hands of the rain god Phra Pirun.
They were celebrating a second day of triumph after divers guided four more boys Monday through tight passages and dank flooded caverns to safety. “Two days, eight Boars,” read a Facebook post by the Thai navy SEALS of the dramatic rescue that began Sunday, more than two weeks after the members of the Wild Boars soccer team were trapped. Another five still await rescue, including the team’s 25-year old coach.
The eight rescued boys were recuperating in a hospital from their ordeal huddled together on a tiny patch of higher ground where they had sought refuge after a rainstorm flooded the massive Tham Luan Nang Non cave complex as they were exploring it after soccer practice on June 23. Their families were being kept at a distance because of fear of infection, authorities said.
Officials lavished praise on the Thai and international divers who, in pairs, executed the rescue mission, guiding the boys, who could barely swim and had no diving experience, through a treacherous 2 1⁄2-mile escape route that twisted and turned through the cavern. A former Thai navy SEAL died Friday while replenishing the oxygen canisters laid along the route to the boys’ damp refuge.
But the chances of monsoon rains sending torrents of water into the caves and making the rescue effort too risky is never far from the minds of everyone involved in the operation.
Alluding to that worry, the regional army commander offered his thanks Monday to the rain god Phra Pirun, imploring him to “keep showing us mercy.”
“Give us three more days and the Boars will come out to see the world, every one of them,” Maj. Gen. Bancha Duriyapan told a news conference punctuated by applause from the dozens of Thai and foreign journalists and others in attendance.
“I beg Phra Pirun because the Meteorological Department said that from Monday on there will be continuous rain,” Bancha said. “If I ask too much, he might not provide it. So I’ve been asking for three days.”
The plight of the boys, ages 11-16, and their coach, has riveted Thailand and much of the world — from the heart-sinking news they were trapped to the first flickering video of the huddle of anxious yet smiling boys brought back by the pair of British divers who found them after penetrating deep into the sprawling cave.
Then came the letters carried out by the teams of divers who took oxygen, food and medicine to the boys’ refuge as experts pondered whether to dive them out or provide them with provisions for months while the monsoon season runs through late October.
After Monday’s rescues, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha visited the eight rescued boys in the hospital where they had been taken by helicopter.
Chiang Rai province’s acting governor, Narongsak Osatanakorn, who is in charge of the rescue, voiced confidence Monday in the ongoing operation, provided the weather doesn’t take a turn for the worse.
“We have more expertise than yesterday,” he said.