Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Trapped in Thai cave, boys don scuba masks
Divers are training the 12 youths to use equipment for a possible swim to safety.
MAE SAI, Thailand — The 12 boys trapped in a cave in northern Thailand were captured on videos released Wednesday as navy medics tended to their wounds and divers continued to prepare them for a possible swim to safety.
Some of the boys were smiling; some were dozing in foil blankets.
The boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old soccer coach were in good health, but officials said it was still too soon to attempt to extract them from more than a mile inside the cave.
The boys were practicing wearing scuba masks and breathing, the first step in what could be a challenging underwater swim — accompanied by naval divers — through the dark and partially flooded passageways of the cave complex in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province.
None of the boys has experience with diving equipment, and only some are believed to know how to swim.
But Thai media reported that a rope was being installed along the route to guide the evacuation.
“We have to be 100 percent sure,” said Chiang Rai provincial Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn. Rescue divers might not evacuate all 13 at the same time, he said. “Some might be ready before others,” Narongsak said. “If they’re not ready or it’s too risky, we will not take them out.”
One diver assisting in the rescue effort said the boys would need to carry out a two-hour dive to reach the cave’s third chamber, where crews have established a command post stocked with food, oxygen and other equipment. From there it would be less difficult to make their way back out of the cave the way they entered.
The boys were trapped while exploring the cave after soccer practice June 23 when rains filled the complex with water, blocking their exit. They were stuck for 10 days before rescuers found them Monday.
The rescue effort was further complicated by monsoon rains forecast for this weekend. Teams were using high-powered pumps to drain as much water as possible from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave, perhaps lowering the water levels to the point where the group could float to safety, but further rains would stymie that effort.
Authorities also said they had constructed a temporary dam to divert a stream that was flowing into the cave, raising the water level. “The water has decreased a lot, but when it’s raining, we can’t fight it,” Narongsak said.
The boys were being looked after by a rotating team of Thai navy SEALs and medics who were staying with them on a dry outcropping above a partially flooded chamber of the cave.
A fiber-optic line was being established so the children could talk to their relatives, many of whom have been holding vigil near the mouth of the cave.
Communication technician Phoowanart Keawdum said that once the cable is installed, phone calls to the cave will be possible. Authorities tried to do the same Tuesday, but the equipment was damaged by the water.