AT WAR WITH WATER

DESPERATE RACE TO RESCUE KIDS TRAPPED IN CAVES

RESCUERS battling to save the young football team trapped in a flooded cave complex in Thailand are “at war with water and time”.

A make-or-break operation to reach the stranded 12 boys and their coach could begin as early as today amid fears the clock is running down.

Experts believe the next three days will be the crucial window in which to reach the youngsters before an expected torrent of monsoon rainfall.

Rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn, who is overseeing 1,000 personnel involved in the operation, said yesterday: “The current situation, with the air and water levels and the boys’ health, is the best yet.

“We’re still at war with water and time. The war isn’t over until we have won all three battles – discovery, rescue and return home.”

There is concern at depleted oxygen levels inside the cave system and the prospect of rising floodwaters leaving the boys perched on a tiny dry area just 30ft square.

Yesterday messages from the lads, members of the Wild Boars team aged 11 to 16 who were cut off by flash flooding, were delivered to their families telling them not to worry.

They are trapped up to half a mile underground, 2.5 miles from the entrance to the six-mile Tham Luang Nang Non cave, known as “Great Cave of the Sleeping Lady” in Chaing Rai, northern Thailand.

The route back to safety lies along a twisting warren of narrow passageways, some full of water.

The rescuers include Thai Navy divers, soldiers, civilian volunteers and international helpers including four British cave diving experts.

Mr Osottanakorn said the boys are strong enough to walk but many cannot swim so are being taught how to use scuba gear to negotiate the dangerous route out.

STRATEGIES

A “buddy” system could used in which an experienced diver would be paired with each novice from the group to lead them to safety.

But with more rain starting to fall last night and time running out, alternative strategies are also under consideration. More than 100 holes have been dug in the hope of reaching the cave by a more direct way.

Billionaire Elon Musk has sent experts from his company The Boring Company, which digs tunnels for transport systems and has advanced ground-penetrating radar, to assist.

And Tesla boss Musk, 47, also drafted in engineers from SpaceX to advise on other options. He tweeted he had received “good feedback” on a proposal to build an escape pod.

A plan to build an underwater air tunnel created via a tube through the cave network is also being considered.

Danish diving instructor Ivan Katadzic, who has been delivering air tanks, said he was “double positive” about the mission’s outcome after water was pumped out and trenches dug outside to divert rain.

Last week former Thai Navy SEAL diver Saman Gunan was hailed a hero after he lost consciousness and died helping in the operation.

But British cave diver Rick Stanton, 56, vowed to do “everything humanly possible” to help free the group in a

text sent to his ex-girlfriend. Angie Timms told how firefighter Rick – who, along with fellow Brit Jonathan Volanthen has played a key role in the rescue – also sent a message saying: “Staying here till we’ve got them out. Don’t worry about me.”

Angie, who is still pals with her ex of 25 years, said: “He’s just focusing on what he has to do. It’s a huge challenge but I know he can do it. He won’t leave until the job’s done.”

Both Rick and Jonathan, 47, were previously involved in recovering the bodies of tragic French and Polish divers. Jonathan’s 80-year-old mum Jill told how she is avidly watching the news for updates on him and how he rarely discusses the horrors he has seen in his role.

PROUDEST

Jill, of Saltdean, East Sussex, said: “Sometimes it doesn’t work out. Suddenly you’re not the hero, and you don’t hear so much about that.

“Jonathan doesn’t talk about it. I do occasionally ask but he’s a very private man and just gets on with it.

“As a parent, it never leaves you – you worry but you mustn’t show it too much.”

Jill, also mum to Mark, 45, shared a poignant family photograph of her sons with husband Peter, who died at 88 last September.

One of Peter’s proudest moments was seeing Jonathan presented with a Royal Humane Society award at Buckingham Palace in 2012, after the rescue of coal miners in Wales.

Jill said: “I am glad he saw that. Peter was very proud of his boys. I know he’d be very proud now, too.”

Jonathan, who lives in Bristol, has run ultramarathons, cycled from John o’ Groats to Land’s End and climbed Yosemite Park’s vertical rock El Capitan.

His friend Robert Charles Harper, 65, who has provided supervision for the rescue, returned to the UK this week after being awarded a certificate by the Thai authorities.

And it emerged that team coach Ekkapol Chantawong was orphaned at 10, grew up “sad and lonely” and trained as a monk for a decade.