Drilling rocks

Thailand cave rescue might take crevice route as Thai diver dies

COULD Thai authorities be considering the idea of pulling up the 12 boys football team and their 25-yearold coach through a widened crevice from above the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province where the 13 are trapped?

Could be, as Dabawenyo cave expert Christoffer John Aquino told Sun.Star Davao yesterday that he has been asked to be on standby. Weather forecast indicate there can be torrential rains starting Saturday and this will mean flooding in the caves.

"Need to evac now!! So they might finally listen and go for the passage that we found," he said.

This developed as a Thai rescuer died while diving his way out of the cave and authorities admitted they have a "limited amount of time" to get the children aged 11-16 and the coach out as weather is worsening and oxygen levels in the underground complex is dropping.

If the option to burrow is resorted to, then Aquino will be called back.

Aquino said they left Chiang Rai after they have already reported the location of the crevice they found that is nearest the children, just around 120 meters from where the trapped soccer team were found. This will require some drilling.

He returned to work hence as an English and Science teacher in Triam Udom Suksa Pattanakarn School, a high school in Bangkok, Thailand.

"My mission is over, just find an exit hole," he said last Wednesday. But last Thursday, he messaged again saying he has been asked to stand by, and may be called back in.

The massive operation inside and around Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province suffered its first fatality Friday when a former Thai navy SEAL passed out underwater on an overnight mission and was unable to be revived.

"We can no longer wait for all conditions (to be ready) because circumstances are pressuring us," Thai SEAL commander Arpakorn Yookongkaew told a news conference. "We originally thought the boys can stay safe inside the cave for quite some time but circumstances have changed. We have limited amount of time."

The oxygen levels inside the cave were getting lower because of all the workers inside and authorities were working to run an oxygen line inside that complex that was in addition to the oxygen canisters used by divers, Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn said late Thursday.

A senior army commander, Maj. Gen. Chalongchai Chaiyakam, said that the most pressing mission now is to provide an oxygen line to reach the kids, who are stuck deep in the complex but are being looked after by four SEALs, including a medic. He said the oxygen line is also tied to a telephone line that will provide a channel of communication for the kids.

The boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach went exploring in the cave after a soccer game June 23. Monsoon flooding cut off their escape and prevented rescuers from finding them for almost 10 days as the only way to reach them was by navigating a series of dark and tight passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents.

Authorities have been racing to pump out water from the cave before more storms hit the region in the coming days and send water levels rising again. At this time though, the only way for the boys to get out of the cave is by diving, something cave rescue experts warn is extremely dangerous even for those with experience.

Friday's death of the former SEAL underscores those risks. The diver was working in a volunteer capacity and died during an overnight mission in which he was placing oxygen canisters along the route divers must take to get to the children, Arpakorn said.

The strategically placed canisters allow divers to stay under water for longer during what is about a five hour trip to reach the stranded team.

While underwater, the rescuer passed out and efforts to resuscitate him failed, Arpakorn said. Another navy official said he didn't believe the man's oxygen tank ran out.

"Despite this, we will continue until we accomplish our mission," Arpakorn said.

The governor has said the 13 may not be extracted at the same time, depending on their condition. The boys are weak but for the most part physically healthy. They've practiced wearing diving masks and breathing, in preparation for the diving possibility. Officials prefer to get the boys out as soon as possible because heavy rain expected by Saturday almost surely will raise water levels again in the cave, making passage in some areas even more difficult, if not impossible.

They are hoping that an upgraded draining effort can lower the water in an area where it is still at or near the ceiling. The idea is to get some headroom so the boys would not be reliant on scuba apparatus for a long stretch and could keep their heads above water.

Cave rescue experts have said it could be safest to simply supply the boys where they are, and wait for the flooding to subside. That could take months, however, given that Thailand's rainy season typically lasts through October. And without proper oxygen levels, staying put could also prove deadly. AP with SAEstremera exam’s fifth top spot with an 82.80 percent rating.

“I set a goal to reach a certain score but never thought of topping the exams, I instead focused on my score, my own performance, since it’s the only thing I can properly gauge,” Baldonado, who is still in awe with the results, shared in an interview.

She found out about the results through a friend.

“My friend messaged me on Facebook, congratulating me. At first I didn’t believe him, thinking he was just joking because the page was not loading properly and I haven’t seen the results yet. After I finally saw the list, I still couldn’t believe it. The whole thing felt surreal. Until now, it feels surreal,” she said.

In preparing for the exam, she said, it was mainly studying well and taking rests in between. She said enjoying the whole process, and having faith and prayer conditioned her in taking the exams. Pursuing Architecture It wasn’t until her fourth year in BS ECE that she decided to take architecture instead.

“ECE was not really working out for me, I felt burned out and I could no longer fully understand the lessons and it was showing in my grades. I was failing my classes so I decided to quit ECE and find something else that I could be truly passionate about,” she said.

Baldonado said she chose architecture because she loved to draw when she was younger. She also thought that architecture had a touch of engineering. It was, for her, the right balance of being artistic and logical.

Transferring to Architecture was not easy. Her family was going through financial difficulties forcing her to move back to Davao City.

“I am grateful to the UP Min and the BS Architecture program for still accepting me despite my poor performance back in Diliman. So when I got my second chance, I really focused on my studies and worked hard to do well in the board exams,” she said.

Pursuing a career in architecture, she said, was inspired by her parents who both took up architecture before but were unable to finish it for different reasons.

She was grateful for all of her experiences before as it led her to where she is now and will be in the future.

Baldonado’s journey is a proof that failing at some point in one’s life is not failing at all, it is just the universe’s way of ironing out things for the better in God’s perfect time. ASP