Last of Thai boys, coach rescued from flooded cave

“Everyone is safe.” With those three words posted on Facebook the daring rescue mission to extricate 12 boys and their soccer coach from the treacherous confines of a flooded cave in Mae Sai, Thailand came to a close on Tuesday — a grueling 18-day ordeal that claimed the life of an experienced diver and riveted people worldwide.

Thailand’s Navy SEALs, who were central to the rescue effort, celebrated the feat with a post that read: “All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave,” — a reference to the boys’ soccer team. “We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what.”

Eight of the boys were rescued by a team of Thai and international divers on Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday, the final four boys were brought out, along with their coach. Their rescue was followed a few hours later by the safe return of a medic and three SEAL divers who had stayed for days with the boys in their cramped refuge in the cave.

Cheers erupted from the dozens of volunteers and journalists awaiting news of whether the intricate and high-risk rescue mission had succeeded. Helicopters transporting the boys roared overhead. People on the street cheered and clapped when ambulances ferrying them on the last leg of their journey from the cave arrived at a hospital in Chiang Rai city.

Their joy and relief was echoed around the globe by the multitude of people who had watched the long ordeal in widely broadcast newscasts.

Ye Aung Thu / AFP/Getty Images Volunteers celebrate at a makeshift press centre in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province in Thailand on Tuesday after the 12 boys and their football coach were rescued.