HEROES OF CAVE RESCUE MISSION
British divers find boys trapped in Thailand
THE PROSPECT of heavy rain in the South China Sea has dampened the euphoria of the British divers who discovered 12 boys and their football coach trapped for more than a week in flooded caves in Thailand.
There were scenes of elation late on Monday as relatives gathered at the cave site to learn that the group had been found in a stable medical condition and had been given high-protein liquid food. But getting them out of the area will involve another major operation, officials warned.
Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were the first divers to reach the group, aged between 11 and 16, and their coach, 25, who disappeared in the Luang Nang Non Cave, in Chiang Rai province, on June 23.
But rescuers must now grapple with the challenge of safely extracting the group through nearly a mile of tunnels – large portions of which are under water.
The rain forecast for later this week could flood the cave further and the boys may have to swim out before then using unfamiliar diving equipment, the Thai interior minister said.
Anupong Paojinda said they could use the same narrow passages out that their rescuers used to get in – but they would need to be guided by experts, and the journey would be extremely dangerous for a novice.
“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.”
The expected rainfall means there will be little time to coach the boys in how to swim using scuba equipment, heightening the risk.
Another option is to wait for the water level to drop. But with a rainy season typically lasting into October, some officials fear that it could take months.
Rescuers have also searched for other potential entrances to drill into the chamber and airlift the group out. But it is estimated that the boys are about half a mile below the surface.
The cave stretches under a mountainside for up to six miles and the rocky ground varies in elevation throughout.
Mr Stanton and Mr Volanthen, along with a third Briton, Robert Harper, joined a largescale search operation after the British Cave Rescue Council was contacted by Thai authorities seeking expert help.
Thai authorities have said that the military will make the final decision on how the group are rescued.
Relatives have been camped at the cave opening ever since the group went missing, praying for their safe return.
Tham Chanthawong, an aunt of the coach, said after they were found: “I want to give him a hug. In these 10 days, how many million seconds have there been? I’ve missed him every second.”
Footage showed children in red and blue tops perched on a rocky slope inside the chamber just above the water line after they were found.
A rescuer with an English accent is heard trying to reassure the group that help is coming, but warns they will not be taken out immediately, saying: “Not today. There’s two of us – you have to dive.”
Thai prime minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said the search mission has “created gratitude and happiness for people all over the country”.
For people who have never done it (diving), it will be difficult. Anupong Paojinda, part of the rescue team.