Final members of team rescued just before pump malfunction flooded cave

The harrowing rescue mission to free the final group of boys and their soccer coach from the depths of a cave in Thailand nearly ended in tragedy, with the main water pump that was draining the chambers failing just hours after the last person emerged from the water.

Divers and other rescue officials were nearly a mile inside the cave when they learned of the equipment malfunction, which allowed for water levels to rapidly increase, said Maj. Charles Hodges, the U.S. mission commander for the 353rd Special Operations unit for the Air Force who participated in the rescue operation.

“Well, three of the SEALs, there’s four of them back there, three of them made their way into chamber three and about the same time we got word that the pumps that had been running nonstop shut off for unknown reasons and the water levels back in chamber three started rising, which would have cut off our access back to chamber two, one and then out of the cave,” he told CBS News.

“And that’s an abort criteria for our guys, and so when that water level started rising everybody started grabbing their kid and they were ready to get out.”

The other rescuers inside the cave made it out within the hour, with Australian doctor Richard Harris as the last to emerge. His father recently died, and he stayed with the boys to monitor their health.

Their successful exit from the cave with the remaining soccer players in tow marked “mission complete” for the days-long rescue effort — which had no shortage of terrifying and challenging moments.

At times a happy ending seemed impossible, Hodges explained, adding that “we also understood, though, we didn’t have the option not to attempt this.”

The Wild Boar soccer team and its 25-year-old coach became trapped nearly 3 miles inside a complex cave system in the Chiang Rai Province nearly two weeks ago after an unexpected bout of heavy rain flooded their path to the exit. Thai officials initially believed the boys could survive for months in the cave and wait out the monsoon season, but dropping oxygen levels and the cave’s potential for flooding forced them to accelerate their rescue efforts.

An elite team of 19 divers was tasked with guiding the boys and their coach out of the Tham Luan Nang Non cave.

They emerged with the first four boys Sunday, another four Monday and the final four boys and their coach around 8 p.m. local time Tuesday. The entire group is expected to remain hospitalized through the weekend.