Flooding complicates search for soccer team
where they are going underwater, so they need to be able to lift their heads above MAE SAI, THAILAND — Efforts the water. to rescue 12 boys and their Anupong said rescuers soccer coach who have been would be working night and missing inside a flooded cave day in the dark cave. in northern Thailand for “The SEAL team will be three days hinge on pump- working nonstop because ing out water so that navy it’s already dark here, too,” divers have room to oper- he said. “So night and day ate, the first high-level Thai doesn’t make a big differ- official to visit the site said ence. They’ll just need to Tuesday. rotate.”
Interior Minister Anupong About a dozen navy divPaojinda told reporters that ers and other rescuers re-ennavy SEAL divers leading the tered the cave on Tuessearch are seriously handday morning to search for icapped by muddy water the boys, aged 11-16, who that has filled some chamhave been missing since bers of the large cave to the their coach took them to ceilings. the Tham Luang Nang Non
He said the divers can cave complex on Saturday proceed only when enough after a practice match. But water is pumped out so there the search had to be susis space between the water pended again because of and the ceiling to make it high water. safer to work. The divers Divers have been seeking will also soon start using a way forward through the special oxygen tanks that chambers of the cave comprovide longer diving times, plex, but have been forced he said. to suspend their search sev
A SEAL diver said the eral times. The authorities water is so murky that even are also seeking alternative with lights they cannot see ways in, using helicopters and search parties on foot to find possible holes in the ceilings of other parts of the cave.
A small glimmer of hope was dashed Tuesday afternoon after explorers found two fissures in the rock on the mountain in which the cave is located. After evaluation, experts found neither could be used as a “chimney” to gain access to the cave.
The boys a nd their 25-year-old coach entered the cave in Chiang Rai province late Saturday afternoon. A mother reported that her son did not return from soccer practice that day, setting off the search.
Relatives of the missing boys and others performed a ritual Tuesday morning calling for those who are missing. They played drums and gongs and two relatives held fishing nets as symbols to fish out lost spirits from the cave. Organizer Jiratat Kodyee said the ritual was a traditional way of showing support for the boys’ families.