MORE BOYS LEAVE CAVE
Eight of original group of 13 now believed to be safe
THAI media last night reported that four more boys had been rescued from the flooded cave system where they have spent the past two weeks.
Although the reports were not officially confirmed at the time of going to press, witnesses reported seeing the four being carried out and taken to waiting ambulances.
The news came a day after the first four boys had been pulled to safety, meaning eight from a group of 13 originally trapped have now been rescued.
Authorities said heavy downpours overnight had not raised the level of floodwater in the cave, allowing the rescue to continue at an urgent pace.
THE second phase of a treacherous mission to free a football team trapped in a flooded Thai cave yielded quick results last night, with local media reporting another four boys had been safely brought to the surface.
A tight-lipped Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn declined to say how many boys were being extricated, but witnesses at the scene reported seeing four boys stretchered out and brought to waiting ambulances.
Similar reports emerged during the rescue of the first four boys on Sunday night before official confirmation was given to media some years later.
Narongsak said the rescuers had streamlined their operations, and expected the mission to move rapidly.
“Today, we started evacuating boys at 11am and they will be out tonight,” the governor said.
Thailand has waited anxiously for news of the safe return of the 12 boys and their 25-year-old coach since they became trapped in the Tham Luang cave complex on June 23, in a saga that has dominated global headlines.
They spent nine days unaccounted for inside the cave, before British divers found the emaciated and dishevelled group huddling on a muddy bank.
The four members of the “Wild Boar” team who were successfully brought out from the cave on Sunday are said to be in good health in hospital.
A local police chief said their main complaint was that they were hungry and they had been enjoying traditional Thai dishes of rice and sweet basil.
The rescued boys were guided by expert divers who plotted the hours-long escape through more than four kilometres of twisting passageways and flooded chambers.
With authorities releasing few details of the rescue bid, parents continued their agonising wait to be reunited with their sons.
“I am still waiting here at the cave, keeping my fingers crossed to see whether my son will be one of those to come out today,” said Supaluk Sompiengjai, a mother of Pheeraphat – known by his nickname “Night”.
“We heard four boys are out but we do not know who they are. Many parents are still here waiting. None of us has been informed of anything.”
But she added she was “happy” at the prospect of seeing her son again. To get the boys out, divers will be forced by the narrow passages to accompany them one at a time.
The death of a former Thai Navy SEAL diver who ran out of oxygen in the cave last Friday underscored the danger of the journey even for professionals.