JOY & RELIEF
MAE SAI, Thailand — “Everyone is safe.” With those three words posted on Facebook, the daring rescue mission to extricate 12 boys and their soccer coach from the treacherous confines of a flooded cave in Thailand was complete — a grueling 18-day ordeal that claimed the life of an experienced diver and riveted people worldwide.
Thailand’s Navy SEALs, who were central to the rescue effort, celebrated the feat with a post Tuesday evening that read: “All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave.”
Eight of the boys were rescued by a team of Thai and international divers on Sunday and Monday.
Tuesday’s rescue was the most challenging yet. A downpour that began overnight and continued steadily Tuesday underscored the risks, as divers entered the cave complex in a race against torrential rains that could last until October. Pumping continued in a bid to prevent the water levels from rising. And instead of the four boys saved in the missions Sunday and Monday, the final rescue attempt had to extract five of the trapped group, an army doctor and three navy SEALs who had stayed underground with the stranded group.
Finally Tuesday, the final four boys and their coach were guided out of the cave. Their rescue was followed a few hours later by the safe return of a medic and three SEAL divers who had stayed for days with the boys in their cramped, dry refuge.
Cheers erupted from the dozens of volunteers and journalists awaiting news of whether the mission had succeeded. Helicopters transporting the boys roared overhead. People on the street cheered and clapped when ambulances ferrying them on the last leg of their journey from the cave arrived at a hospitalin Chiang Rai city .
Their joy and relief was echoed around the globe.
Payap Maiming, who helped provide food to rescue workers and journalists, noted that fact.
“I’m happy for Thais all over the country,” he said. “And actually just everyone in the world because every news channel has presented this story and this is what we have been waiting for.”
The plight of the boys and their coach captivated much of the world — from the heart-sinking news that they were missing, to the first flickering video of the huddle of anxious yet smiling boys when they were found by a pair of British divers 10 days later. The group had entered the sprawling Tham Luang cave to go exploring after soccer practice on June 23, but monsoon rains soon filled the tight passageways, blocking their escape.
Each of the boys, ages 11 to 16 and with no diving experience, was guided out by a pair of divers in the threeday operation. The route, in some places just a crawl space, had oxygen canisters positioned to refresh each team’s air supply.
Highlighting the dangers, a former Thai Navy SEAL died Friday while replenishing the canisters.
Cave-diving experts had warned diving the youngsters out was potentially too risky. But Thai officials, acutely aware the monsoon rains could trap the boys for months, seized a window of opportunity provided by relatively mild weather. A massive effort to pump out water made the winding passageways more navigable. And the confidence of the diving team, and expertise specific to the cave, grew after its first successful mission Sunday.
“We did something nobody thought possible,” Chiang Rai province acting Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn, leader of the rescue effort, said at a celebratory news conference.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, speaking Tuesday before the final rescue was completed, said the boys were given an antianxiety medication to help with their perilous removal from the cave.
Asked at a news conference in Bangkok if the boys had been sedated, Mr. Prayuth said: “Who would chloroform them? If they’re chloroformed, how could they come out? It’s called anxiolytic, something to make them not excited, not stressed.”
Mr. Prayuth said the Tham Luang cave would be closed for some time to make it safe for visitors.
The first eight boys brought out were doing well and were in good spirits at the hospital. They received a treat on Tuesday: bread with chocolate spread that they had requested.
Jedsada Chokdumrongsuk, permanent secretary at the Public Health Ministry, said the boys rescued Sunday were able to eat normal food by Tuesday, though they couldn’t yet take the spicy dishes favored by many Thais.
Two of the boys possibly have a lung infection but all eight are generally “healthy and smiling,” he said.
“The kids are footballers, so they have high immune systems,” Mr. Jedsada told a news conference. “Everyone is in high spirits and is happy to get out. But we will have a psychiatrist evaluate them.”
It could be at least a week before they can be released from the hospital, he said.
For now the boys were in isolation to try to keep them safe from infections by outsiders. But family members have seen at least some of the boys from behind a glass barrier.