Race against time to pump water from flooded cave and save boys
● With heavy rain forecast, concern grows over chance of rescuing victims
Thai rescuers are racing against time to pump out water from inside a flooded cave before they can extract 12 boys and their football coach.
Parts of a passageway leading to where the boys and coach were found on Monday is still flooded all the way to the ceiling, making diving the only way out.
“What we worry [about] most is the weather,” said Chiang Rai provincial governor Narongsak Osatanakorn. “We can’t risk having the flood back into the cave.”
Mr Osatanakorn asked Thai navy Seals in charge of extraction plans to estimate what risk would be involved to take them out and “what kind of readiness we can have today and decide if we can take that chance”. He said earlier that not all 13 may be extracted at the same time depending on their condition, adding the boys have been practising wearing diving masks and breathing, but he does not believe they have attempted any practice dives.
Officials have said they prefer to get the boys out as soon as possible because heavy rain is expected to start by tomorrow, which could lead to water levels rising 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 level 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.
The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach disappeared after they went exploring in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in the northern province after a football game on 23 June.
Authorities said the boys, who appeared skinny but in good health in several videos released by the Thai navy, were being looked after by seven members of the Thai Seals, including medics, who were staying with them inside the cave.
They were mostly in stable condition and have received high-protein drinks.
In the most recent video, a Seal is shown treating minor cuts on the feet and legs of the boys with antibiotic ointment. Several of the boys are seen smiling as they interact with the Seal, who cracks jokes. Seeing the boys has boosted the mood of their family members, and officials are working to install an internet cable to the cave so that parents can talk to their children.
Kian Kamluang, whose 16-year-old son, Pornchai, is in the cave, said she had thought there was a 50 per cent chance that her son would be found.
“It’s like he has been given a new life,” she said, adding that she will never let her son go into a cave or near water again.
While efforts to pump out floodwaters are continuing, some Thai officials have indicated that heavy rains forecast for this weekend could force them to decide the boys should swim and dive out using the same complicated route of narrow passageways through which their rescuers entered.
Authorities said they were still exploring other options, such as scouring the mountainside for other ways into the cave and finding faster ways to pump water from the cave.
Cave rescue experts have said it could be safest to simply supply the boys where they are for now, and wait for the water to go down.
That could take months, however, given that Thailand’s rainy season typically lasts into October.
Experienced divers are wary of taking out the boys through the dark and dangerous waters still in the cave, especially since they are untrained.
“We are talking kilometres of transport under the water with zero visibility,” said Claus Rasmusen, a certified cave diving instructor based in Thailand who has been helping Thai Seal team with logistics. “It’s difficult.”