Thai cave rescue: diving ‘could be life-threatening’
MAE SAI, THAILAND •Heavy rains forecast for northern Thailand could worsen flooding in a cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach are waiting to be extracted by rescuers, possibly forcing authorities to have them swim out through a narrow, underwater passage in the cavern, a top official said Tuesday.
The 13, who disappeared when flooding trapped them in the cave they were exploring on June 23, were found by rescue divers late Monday night.
Cave rescue experts have said it could be safer to simply supply them where they are for now, rather than trying to have the boys dive out. That could take months, however, given that Thailand’s rainy season typically lasts through October.
But time may not be on their side. While efforts to pump out flood waters are continuing, it’s clear that some areas of the sprawling cavern cannot be drained, said Interior Minister Anupong Paojindaa. In order to get them out ahead of the bad weather forecast for later in the week, they might need to use diving gear while being guided by professional divers, he said.
Anupong said the boys would be brought out via the same complicated route through which their rescuers entered, and he conceded that if something went awry, it could be disastrous.
“Diving is not easy. For people who have never done it, it will be difficult, unlike diving in a swimming pool, because the cave’s features have small channels,” he said. “If something happens midway, it could be life-threatening.”
Twelve members of a boys’ soccer team and their coach who disappeared when flooding trapped them in the Luang Nang Non Cave they were exploring on June 23 after a game were found safe by rescue divers late Monday night in the cavern in northern Chiang Rai province during a desperate search. But the days-long rescue operation isn’t over, as rescuers still need to figure out how to get the team out of the cave. Here’s everything you need to know about their discovery, their condition and the next steps of their rescue.
THE DIVERS WHO FOUND THE BOYS
A pair of British divers, Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, were the first to reach the 12 boys and their coach inside the Luang Nang Non Cave in Chiang Rai province on Monday.
It is their voices that can be heard talking to the boys and giving them calm reassurance in a dramatic video released by the Thai navy. They are working with Thai navy SEALs, who are leading the rescue operation.
Stanton, a retired firefighter, and Volanthen, who does IT consulting work, have years of experience in cave rescues and have helped map the Luang Nang Non Cave.
Volanthen was placing guide lines to try to get closer to the missing group when he ran out of line himself, forcing him to the water’s surface.
There they were, all 13, staring at him through the light of his headlamp. After 10 days of efforts racing against monsoon rains and rising water in the cave, the search for the missing soccer team had finally succeeded.
If his line had been even 15 feet shorter, he would have turned back and not reached them on that dive Monday night. The group would have spent at least another night on its own in the pitch black, not knowing if a rescue would ever come.
“Literally, he finished his line, stuck the line reel in the mud, and they were looking down,” Vernon Unsworth, his friend and fellow cave explorer, said Tuesday.
THE ‘GNARLY SWIM’
The cave stretches under a mountainside for up to 10 kilometres, much of it a string of narrow passageways that lead to wide chambers and then back to narrow passageways. The rocky and muddy ground makes several changes in elevation along the way. The British Cave Rescue Council, which has members taking part in the operation, estimates the boys are around 2 km into the cave and somewhere between 800 metres to 1 km below the surface. Other estimates put the boys as far as 4 km into the cave.
In an interview with the BBC, the council’s vice chairman, Bill Whitehouse, said the divers described the dive as “gnarly.”
There were “complications and problems,” said Whitehouse, “They were having to swim against the currents and pull themselves along the walls. The visibility wouldn’t have been very good.”
The dive took about three hours, he added.
THE RESCUE PLANS
Diving would be the fastest, but arguably most dangerous, extraction method. Anmar Mirza, national coordinator of the National Cave Rescue Commission in the U.S., said that “trying to take non-divers through cave is one of the most dangerous situations possible, even if the dives are relatively easy.” Getting the boys out could go faster due to the installation of dive lines, extra oxygen tanks left along the way and glow sticks lighting the path. Still, the British Cave Rescue Council said, “Any attempt to dive the boys and their coach out will not be taken lightly because there are significant technical challenges and risks to consider.”
Leaving them in place is possibly the safest option. It would involve bringing food and other supplies to the boys and waiting for water levels to drop, naturally or by pumping out water, or until rescuers can find or create another exit. This could take anywhere from days to weeks to even months as the rainy season typically lasts through October.
Along with the search efforts inside the cave, rescuers have searched the mountainside for ways into the caverns below. Authorities said those efforts will continue. Backhoes and drilling equipment were sent to the mountain, but creating a shaft large enough to extract the boys would be extremely complicated and could take a long time. The British Cave Rescue Council said the boys are “located in a relatively small space and this would make any potential drilling attempt as a means of rescue very difficult.”
THE BOYS’ CONDITION
The boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach were described as healthy and being looked after by seven members of the Thai navy SEALs, including medics, who were staying with them inside the cave.
They were mostly in stable condition and have received highprotein drinks.
Video released by the Thai navy showed the boys in their soccer uniforms sitting in a dry area inside the cave above the water as a light held by a rescuer was shone on their faces.
SEAL commander Rear Adm. Arpakorn Yookongkaew said there was no rush to bring them out, since they’re safe where they are.
A doctor and a nurse were with them in the cave. They have volunteered to stay with them for months, if needed
“We have given the boys food, starting from easily digested and high-powered food with enough minerals,” Arpakorn told a news conference.
Cave diver Ben Reymenants, part of the team assisting the rescue effort, told NBC’s “Today” show that he was “very surprised obviously that they are all alive and actually mentally also healthy.”
While they appear responsive, “they are very weak and very skinny,” he added.
THE WEATHER
More monsoon rains are on the way. After a break in the weather in recent days, the Thai Meteorological Department forecast for Chiang Rai calls for light rain through Friday followed by heavy rain starting Saturday and continuing through July 10.
Such storms could raise water levels in the cave again and complicate the supply missions or any potential extrication, if one was needed.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said as a result of the forecast, the boys may need to swim out using diving gear. He said they would be brought out via the same complicated route through which their rescuers entered.
While efforts to pump out flood waters are continuing, it’s clear that some areas of the sprawling cavern cannot be drained, said Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda, a member of Thailand’s ruling military junta.