Time is running out
Dramatic new rescue plan for cave boys after floods forecast
RESCUERS face a sudden race against the clock to save the trapped Thai schoolboys after forecasters warned of a week’s incessant storms from tomorrow.
Panicking officials – who were earlier considering waiting up to four months for water to recede – now fear that heavy monsoon rains could flood the cave system catastrophically.
And their bid to rescue the boys – who were found by British cave divers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen on Monday and have been stranded for 13 days – was hampered further yesterday when bungling local volunteers pumped water back in to the cave system.
Meanwhile an uncle of a trapped boy seen in a red England football shirt said he was desperate to get out in time to watch the crunch World Cup match against Sweden tomorrow. The 12 emaciated young players were yesterday given a crash course in scuba diving half a mile underground. Using 19 giant pumps, the Thai military has so far sucked out enough water to fill 50 Olympic pools despite the helpers’ error – in the hope of lowering water levels enough for the boys to be floated out with their heads above water. But the children – who cannot n swim – are also being readied to be chaperoned out in a four-hour journey.
Provincial Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn said the mission was now ‘a race against the water’, adding: ‘Our biggest concern is the weather. We are calculating how much time we have if it rains, how many hours and days.’ The boys aged 11 to 16 and their 25-year-old coach have practised wearing diving masks, he said, and Thai Navy Seals had been told to prepare for a sudden evacuation. He said the children – who went to the cave as a treat on June 23 but retreated when rain waters cut off their exit – would each undergo a medical examination to decide if and when they are fit enough for the escape. Sunida Wongsukchan, great aunt of Ekkarat Wongsukchan, 14, said: ‘Yesterday I felt hopeful – today I heard the rain is coming. I’m very worried.’ Rescuers are also hunting for a secret ‘chimney hole’ up out of the cave after the boys told divers that they had heard dogs barking.
Eight birds’ nest collectors renowned for their climbing skills have even been enlisted.