We’re moving our live coverage of the rescue efforts in Thailand to a new live blog here, please follow along for live updates of the second day of rescue efforts since the boys were found.
Updated
What we know so far
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A team of rescuers, including a doctor and a nurse, have reached 12 boys and their football coach, who have been trapped in a cave complex in Thailand for 10 days. They were found alive in the Tham Luang cave network by British divers on Monday.
- The Thai navy Seals, who are leading the operation, said the trapped boys and their coach, had been given easily-digested food. Initially, they said a rescue would not be attempted until the group were sufficiently strong. But the expectation of monsoon rains this week may make it necessary to launch one soon.
- Rescuers have appealed for 15 small and extra small full face masks, fuelling speculation that divers are preparing to lead them to safety through 2.5km flooded stretch of the cave. A rescuer told reporters that it was too dangerous to use conventional breathing apparatus as this could easily be knocked out during the dive.
- Seal commander Rear Adm Arpakorn Yookongkaew confirmed a dive out to safety was one of several options being considered. If it were employed, he said they “have to be certain that it will work and have to have a drill to make that it’s 100% safe.”
- Thailand’s interior minister, Anupong Paojinda, suggested the rescue attempt will be made over the next day or so, before a fresh downpour of monsoon rain is expected. He said: “As rain is forecast in the next few days, the evacuation must speed up. Diving gear will be used. If the water rises, the task will be difficult. We must bring the kids out before then.”
- Footage of the group, shot by the British divers who reached them first, showed the boys and their coach huddled on a ledge surrounded by water. They said they were hungry and asked what day it was and if they could leave.
- The Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters they were looking at all options, but “I don’t think they will be home soon.” A rescue diver has said the boys were “very weak, but alive”.
- There has been jubilation in Thailand at the news the boys and their coach are alive, especially among relatives who have been keeping vigil outside the entrance since the boys were reported missing. The Thai prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, wished the group a “safe and speedy recover” and thanked the rescuers, including the foreign teams who have flocked from Australia, Japan, the US and Britain to help with the search.
- The young football team, made up of 12 boys aged between 11 and 16, and their coach went missing on Saturday 23 June, after monsoon rains trapped them inside the Tham Luang cave network. They were found on Monday night after a nine-day round-the-clock search involving international teams of divers.
Updated
The AP has more comments from Omar Reygadas, who has told the agency:
It’s terrible for them they’re little but I believe that boys with a lot of strength are going to manage to be whole when they get out.
It quotes him as saying the boys should “think only about leaving and reuniting with their families”.
Reygadas and the other miners were trapped nearly 2,300 feet below Chile’s Atacama desert before a specially built capsule could be lowered down a drilled shaft and raise them to the surface one by one. Faith and prayer, as well as humour were very important to the miners at times when they doubted they would be rescued, Reygadas said.
They shouldn’t be ashamed to be scared. Because we were scared, too. Our tears also ran. Even as adult men, we cried.
A miner who spent 69 days trapped underground in Chile says the 12 boys and their coach should help each other mentally prepare for rescue, the Associated Press reports.
Omar Reygadas and 32 other miners were rescued in 2010. He says the ordeal was hard for grown men, so he can only imagine what the boys aged 11 to 16 are going through. Reygadas says their coach will be a key figure in keeping them motivated. Beyond that, they should focus on being reunited with their families.
Updated
Volanthen also told the Sunday Times in 2013 that cave diving was not the pursuit of those who crave thrills.
The flight response now isn’t always appropriate. Panic and adrenaline are great in certain situations, but not in cave-diving. The last thing you want is any adrenaline whatsoever.
The Associated Press (AP) has some more information on Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, the two divers who were the first to reach the 12 boys and their coach.
Stanton has previously described his most memorable lifesaving effort as the 2004 rescue of six soldiers trapped by rising floodwaters in Mexico. He told the Coventry Telegraph in 2012:
They were trapped for nine days, and we had to teach a few of them to dive through a considerable length of passage to get them out. It took about nine hours to get them all out.
Stanton also tried to rescue French cave explorer Eric Establie in 2010. Establie’s remains were discovered in southern France after a dramatic eight-day operation. Volanthen was Stanton’s partner on the rescue attempt.
Alex Daw, a West Midlands Fire Service watch commander, supervised Stanton for six years during his stint as a firefighter. He said that experience serves him well. He told the AP:
If the kids have got someone there like him, they’re safe. He’s cool, calm and collected.
A little more from Jacob Goldberg’s report filed from Mae Sai. US Air Force Captain Jessica Tait, a member of a unit of divers, medics, and survival specialists sent to the rescue site last week at the request of the Thai government, has described the mood in the camp.
We’ve all been in here as a family, working together, and I never sensed anyone being demotivated. In fact, I sensed a strong hope.
When we found out the good news, it felt like it was out of a movie. I get chills when I think about that moment and being able to work hard and have such a positive outcome, because you don’t always get that.
My colleagues, Luke Henriques-Gomes and Emma Graham-Harrison, have assessed some of the options available to rescuers as they attempt to get the boys safely out from the cave. You can read that here:
This graphic shows the route rescuers took to find the missing boys – and the problems they face in returning the children to their families.
- The main entrance to the six-mile cave, one of Thailand’s longest, in the Doi Nang Non mountain range. Bicycles and football kit were found after a mother reported her son missing on 23 June. The Moo Pa (Wild Boars) academy team had cycled there with their coach after a training session. A sign outside warns against entering the cave during the rainy season.
- A chamber around 700 metres into the complex is where rescuers, led by Thai navy Seals, are basing operations. Early rescue efforts were hampered by the rising floodwater, which is believed to have forced the boys further inside the network of narrow caverns and passageways.
- Monk’s Junction, 1,500 metres from the entrance, was reached on Sunday. Changing weather conditions and round-the-clock pumping helped reduce water levels and improve visibility, allowing divers to fix guide ropes along the passageway.
- A landmark area of higher ground known as Pattaya Beach was where rescuers first hoped the team would be found. But when they reached it, rescuers found the ‘beach’ was also flooded.
- The boys were eventually located around 200 metres further on, sheltering on a ledge surrounded by water, 2km (1.24 miles) from the main entrance and up to 1km below the surface. After their discovery by two specialist cave divers from the UK, the Wild Boars were visited by medics and other rescuers who supplied food and water.
Updated
Jacob Goldberg has filed a report for the Guardian from the Tham Luang cave at the foot of Nang Non mountain, where he says rescuers never lost hope that the missing children would be found and returned.
The sense of hope felt by the rescuers is also shared by the dozens of volunteers who have come from across the country to the northern tip of Chiang Rai province to contribute their skills to the rescue effort.
Wisalaya, a woman in her 50s who lives in the surrounding Mae Sai district, is one of the many community members who have set up makeshift kitchens at the site to hand out free meals to anyone who passes by. Throughout the day soldiers, medics, and reporters could be seen standing in two inches of mud, happily slurping noodle soup.
Wisalaya said: “I’m here because I love helping, and I love food.”
Divernet, a scuba-diving website, has more information on Rick Stanton, the Brit who along with John Volanthen was the first to reach the children.
They made several reconnaissance dives before pushing through to locate the boys in a dry chamber, reckoned to be some 2km into the cave and as much as 1000m below the surface – and some 400m from where previous searches had centred.
They laid guidelines while Thai military divers followed, stashing air-cylinders along the route for future use.
Stanton and fellow-diver Jason Mallinson rescued six British cavers from Mexico’s Cueva de Alpazat system.
“During the Mexico rescue mission in 2004, Stanton is said to have persuaded a caver who was afraid of water to make a 180m dive to safety – but an underwater operation on the scale required in Thailand would be unprecedented,” Divernet reported.
The website also profiled Stanton in 2007.
US air force captain Jessica Tait, who is part of the recovery effort in Chiang Rai, gave an interview to ABC News earlier today.
“Really when you think about it nine days, complete darkness, no food [...] I watched the video and it was so moving to me because when I think about pretty much that mental will to live. And these boys have it,” Tait said.
U.S. Air Force Captain Jessica Tait, part of the American military team on the ground in Thailand, tells @CeciliaVega on @GMA: "All options are being considered" as rescuers look at how best to extract soccer team from flooded cave. https://t.co/ocLcphyaXl pic.twitter.com/dZqHluTUfN
— ABC News (@ABC) July 3, 2018
Updated
At a time when some countries are pulling away from international partnerships, the rescue unfolding in Thailand “reminds us how much we have to gain when we work together”, a Chicago Sun-Times editorial says.
We have seen no name-calling or finger-pointing.
We have heard no griping, based on nothing, that this nation or that nation has an unfair advantage.
Nobody has singled out anybody based on race or religion.
No nation has made big promises and then reneged.
We have seen only an admirable international community coming together, a spirited joint effort, for the sake of 12 boys on a soccer team and their coach.
And now we pray this story has a happy ending.
Updated
The Thai government has released psychiatric advice on how the youths should be rehabilitated, including asking the public to “be considerate” of what they say on social media.
Dr Tirapon Tungchittipon, from the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health, said the children should not be exposed “to images of the incident to avoid psychological repercussions”.
She suggested that society, especially social media, be considerate of the views they express towards the event, as remarks that may seem inconsequential could actually cause significant effects. A child’s personality and resilience will also impact how they handle their experience.
Thai officials have been sending out mixed messages about what happens next.
Navaon Siradapuvadol has compiled a selection of the latest official pronouncements:
Apakorn Yukongkaew, Naval special warfare command chief, said:
“Don’t worry we will do our best to take care of them and get them out safely. We are now planning the next step. The first plan is to reduce the water level and get them out but if we can’t, we will have a backup plan, but the children must come back to their families safely [...]
“The children are fine. We don’t need to hurry. we will install the telephone line by tonight and the family can talk with them. We will take care of them until they get better, then they can come out.”
Deputy governor of Chiang Rai, Passakorn Bunyalak, said:
“If they are ready, we will safely take them out immediately. We will take the one who is strong first. For those who are still weak, we will take care of them until they get better and take them out”
Commander of the Marehong River Line Unit, Wutthichai Poocharoenyos, said:
“If the water level goes down, the kids will be able to walk out from the front of the cave. If not, they might have to dive. If they dive, we will have to use a full mask, which we are waiting for now.
Now we have 10 Navy Seal officers with them including medics. We are assessing them both physically and mentally.”
Updated
The weather forecast for the area predicts some rain on Wednesday.
Ben Raymenants, who was 400m behind the British divers when the boys were found, suggests they are too weak to attempt a dive rescue for the moment.
Speaking to Sky News he said: “The condition of the boys is quite stable. They are mentally quite fit, better than anticipated. They are very weak though. They did not have any solid food for 10 days, just drinking water dripping from the walls. There are now two navy Seal doctors giving them food slowly, enabling them to get their powers back. And then see if they can evacuate the boys.
“First the boys need to get their strength again, because right now they can’t do anything at all. They have muscle atrophy, they can barely stand up. So they are feeding them slowly to get back their strength.”
Raymenants described reaching the boys as “very taxing”.
He said:
It is an extreme cave system. It is very long, one of the longest in Thailand, and its a complex system of tunnels.
The Thai navy is not that specialised in cave diving, so we were taking turns with the British team in laying fixed ropes, 2.5km into that tunnel making a way to this room where we expected the kids would be.
Raymenants said the boys had made their way though the tunnel as part of a local initiation rite.
They had no food. They left their backpacks and their shoes before wading in there, trying to go the end of the tunnel like an initiation for local young boys to go to the end of the tunnel and write your name on the wall and then make it back.
A flash flood because of sudden heavy rain locked them in, with no shoes and no food. They had just one flash light which obviously ran out.
There was a 30-year-old map made by French speleologists, with some corrections from British speleologists. That was the only basis we had. It was pure speculation that they could be there in one of these two rooms. One is called Pattaya beach, and the other is another dry air pocket. It was all speculation and pure luck that they were there.
Raymenats outlined three options for getting the boys out:
One is to teach them to scuba dive. It is a least a 2.5km swim through narrow restrictions of a complex cave system. This is not the easiest solution.
They are also trying to pump the cave empty with giant pumps which was working to some extent. But they are expecting heavy rains in the next two days.
The last option is sitting it out and waiting. Two medical officers in the Thai navy have volunteered to have themselves locked in with enough food and supplies to sit there for three or four months until the water drops again.
He cautioned against the dive option:
This is one of the more extreme cave dives that I have done. It is very far, and very complex. There is current. The visibility can be zero at times. So getting boys through there one by one, and the risk that they will panic is there. They can’t even swim. This has been done before with pulling people out of wrecks alive. So it is not impossible, but the issue is the restrictions - just one person can fit through. So guiding a boy through in front of you could be quite challenging, especially if the rain picks up and there’s a strong flow and the visibility reduces to zero. When it starts raining the flow is so hard you can barely swim against it.
It took us four hours just to swim to the point where we had to tie off the lines. It is really long swim. So it is really hard to give an opinion on what is the best solution.
I think the weather is going to be the deciding factor.
Ben Reymenants, a cave diver who’s part of the international team helping the rescue efforts, is talking up the option of pumping water out the cave.
Speaking to NBC News Today he said:
“They can’t swim, so they definitely can’t dive…The easiest [option] would be that they [people trying to rescue those in the cave] keep pumping the water out of the cave. They need another three or four feet so they can literally float them out with life jackets, but time is not on their side. They’re expecting heavy thunderstorms and rain which might flood the entire cave system, making the rescue impossible at that stage.”
If that does happen Reymenants said the boys and the coach could be expected to be in the cave for “up to 3-4 months.” He added, “Two Thai Navy doctors have volunteered to be locked up inside the cave…a huge sacrifice.”
Asked about the condition of the boys he said: “They are actually quite responsive…but they are very weak and very skinny.”
What we know so far
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A team of rescuers, including a doctor and a nurse, have reached 12 boys and their football coach, who have been trapped in a cave complex in Thailand for 10 days. They were found alive in the Tham Luang cave network by British divers on Monday.
- The Thai navy Seals, who are leading the operation, said the trapped boys and their coach, had been given easily-digested food. Earlier they said a rescue would not be attempted until the group were sufficiently strong.
- Rescuers have appealed for 15 small and extra small full face masks, fuelling speculation that divers are preparing to lead them to safety through 2.5km flooded stretch of the cave. A rescuer told reporters that it was too dangerous to use conventional breathing apparatus as this could easily be knocked out during the dive.
- Seal commander Rear Adm Arpakorn Yookongkaew confirmed a dive out to safety was one of several options being considered. If it were employed, he said they “have to be certain that it will work and have to have a drill to make that it’s 100% safe.”
- Thailand’s interior minister, Anupong Paojinda, suggested the rescue attempt will be made over the next day or so, before a fresh downpour of monsoon rain is expected. He said: “As rain is forecast in the next few days, the evacuation must speed up. Diving gear will be used. If the water rises, the task will be difficult. We must bring the kids out before then.”
- Footage of the group, shot by the British divers who reached them first, showed the boys and their coach huddled on a ledge surrounded by water. They said they were hungry and asked what day it was and if they could leave.
- The Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters they were looking at all options, but “I don’t think they will be home soon.” A rescue diver has said the boys were “very weak, but alive”.
- There has been jubilation in Thailand at the news the boys and their coach are alive, especially among relatives who have been keeping vigil outside the entrance since the boys were reported missing. The Thai prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, wished the group a “safe and speedy recover” and thanked the rescuers, including the foreign teams who have flocked from Australia, Japan, the US and Britain to help with the search.
- The young football team, made up of 12 boys aged between 11 and 16, and their coach went missing on Saturday 23 June, after monsoon rains trapped them inside the Tham Luang cave network. They were found on Monday night after a nine-day round-the-clock search involving international teams of divers.
Updated
Passakorn Boonyarat, deputy governor of Chiang Rai province, refused to speculate on how long they might be trapped, but told reporters that anyone fit and able to leave the cave would be evacuated as soon as possible.
“Any boys who are ready can come out first,” AFP quoted him saying.
They will taken out via “chamber three” a cavern being used to as a base to store food, oxygen tanks and diving gear, he explained. The area is also being used to plan the complex logistics of how to move 13 weak and inexperienced divers out of a partially-submerged cave.
Experts say the risks of panic, drowning or an accident are high for young, scared and physically drained divers trying to negotiate the tight, winding passages.
If diving proves impossible, there is an outside chance a hole can be drilled into the cave to evacuate them or they will have to wait for waters to recede and walk out - the longest of the options.
Medics reach boys
Thai navy SEALs say all 13 people trapped in the cave are being looked after by medics who have reached them, AP reports.
Seal commander Rear Adm Arpakorn Yookongkaew said that seven members of his unit including a doctor and a nurse are now with the 12 boys and their coach in the cave where they took shelter.
He told a news conference that his team members “have given the boys food, starting from easily digested and high-powered food with enough minerals.”
He said that having the rescued people dive out of the cave was one of several options being considered. If it were employed, he said they “have to be certain that it will work and have to have a drill to make that it’s 100% safe.”
He said there was no rush to bring them out as they are safe where they are.
Richard Tomlinson, a trained cave diver who has just returned from trip diving caves in Southern Thailand, emails to point out that a diver cannot even start a cave training course unless certified to rescue-diver level and with 50 dives experience.
The diver also needs to know how to dive using gear that is adapted to cave diving.
The full training course takes about eight days and about 14 dives.
One of the most difficult skills to master is line laying - it sounds easy but is not as you can end up tangled in the line, especially in tight passages.
The two lead divers would have had a very hard time laying the initial exploration line working up current and in, I would imagine, very poor visibility.
People have asked how the boys survived for so long Some caves have very large fresh water snails in them, about the size of a fist and deep blue colour. There are also small shrimps - mostly you notice them when they try to nibble your ankles!
Who are the boys and their coach?
The team is called the Moo Pa Academy, or the Wild Boars, and the boys are aged between 11 and 16. Their coach is 25. Here’s what we know about them:
Ekkapol Chantawong, 25
The coach’s nickname is Aek. His aunt, Kham Chantawong, told the Guardian’s correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen, that he’d visited the caves in the past.
“He took very good care of the kids,” she said, her face pale and pained. “They all got on very well together. The children never fought or even cursed at each other.”
The son of another player who skipped the cave trip, Noppadon Kanthawong, told AP he was “very dedicated”.
“He would be there at the field waiting for kids to show up after school. It is a great way to keep healthy, away from screens and have friends. I can tell that they are very close to each other.”
Duangphet Promthep, 12
Kham Phromthep, whose 12-year-old son, Duangpetch Phromthep, was among the boys trapped in the cave, said he was ecstatic when he saw his son in the video, according to the New York Times.
Somphong Jaiwong, 13
Like many in the team his wish is to play professional football.
“Pong is a cheerful boy, he likes football, and every sport. He dreams of becoming a footballer for the Thai national team,” the teenager’s teacher Manutsanun Kuntun told AFP, using his nickname.
“Our class is still confident he will be OK,” she said.
Mongkol Boonpium, 13
Thinnakorn Boonpiem told AFP his son is a “good boy” who loves to study – almost as much as football.
He joined the local team a year ago and on the day he went missing had gone to practice as usual. He didn’t tell his dad he planned to go trekking in the cave, and his family started to worry when he never came home.
“Since then I’ve been here in front of the cave,” the grim-faced father of two said.
The other team members are: Chanin Wiboonroongrueng, 11; Phornchid Kamluang, 16, Prachuck Sutham, 14; Peerapat Sompiengjai, 16; Ekkarat Wongsookchan, 14; Panumart Saengdee, age unknown; Pipat Phothai, 15; Nattawoot Thakamsai, 14; and Adul Samon, 14.
Updated
Rescuers have told broadcasters that a first meal of pork and rice is being prepared for the boys. They boys are often referred to as the Wild Boars - the name of their football team they all belong to.
The rescuers appear to be signalling that sealed portions of the dish will be taken to the trapped boys.
14.00 น.
— เกาะติด #ถ้ำหลวง ช่วย 13 นักเตะ (@WorkpointShorts) July 3, 2018
อังคาร 3 ก.ค.
พบ 13 นักเตะแล้ว รอออกจากถ้ำ
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นอกจากพาวเวอร์เจลแล้ว อาหารปกติมื้อแรกที่ทีมหมูป่าจะได้กินคือ ข้าวเหนียวหมูทอด
.#WorkpoinNews #ถ้ำหลวง #ทีมหมูป่า #ThamLuang pic.twitter.com/vwIZvLM9OL
The Thai navy Seals, who are leading the rescue efforts, said the boys will be rescued when they regained enough strength.
Updated
Here’s an image of the kind of full face mask the rescuers need for the boys. They put out an appeal for 15 small and extra small masks of this type. These are considered safer than conventional masks for novice divers, as there is less risk of breathing apparatus getting detached. It has been reported that the boys cannot swim.
Updated
The stranded children and their coach will be rescued when they are sufficiently strong, according to the latest Facebook update from the Thai navy Seals.
The Seals are coming up with a plan together with the international team of rescuers, the update says, according to a translation by reader Mervyn Lee.
The update adds that an underground headquarters has been set up stocked with dive gear, oxygen tanks, medical supplies, and food, which will all be sent to the boys and their coach.
It says they are trying to bring everyone out so that doctors check their health immediately.
Divers have been in touch to point out that a full mask would be safer for the boys because it is more firmly secured, than a normal regulator which the wearer bites down on.
The boys would lack the training to recover a regulator, if it was knocked out in a current or collision, says Oliver Smiddy.
Denis adds:
Even for an experienced diver it is very easy to turn and to knock the mouthpiece out of the mouth – and for a novice who can’t even swim and has no experience in caving or diving it is likely cause panic. This is something that experienced cave divers practiced many times in pools. It is not something to try for the first time in a cave situation.
A full face mask prevents, or minimises, the possibility of a regulator becoming dislodged – and is a far safer option for a novice.
If the second stage hose is long enough the diver behind can carry the child’s tank. A diver in front could go even backwards – maintaining face to face visual contact with the child.
Sky News reports that Thai police are considering whether to prosecute the coach for leading the 12 boys into the cave.
But for now the focus is on getting the boys and their coach to safety.
Police in Thailand say they will look into whether the 25-year-old coach of a youth football team could face legal action for leading them into a cave complex where they were stranded for 10 days
— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) July 3, 2018
The US embassy in Thailand said the US is doing what it can to support the rescue efforts.
In a statement, the US Ambassador to Thailand Glyn T Davies, said:
“The American people join Thais in celebrating the discovery of the football team and their coach in Tham Luang cave. We will continue to support Thai authorities in their efforts to safely bring home the players and their coach.”
Thai readers have emailed to confirm that rescuers are looking for donations of small and extra small face mask (see the earlier).
Two Charusorn quotes the rescuer telling reporters: “The SEAL team would like to ask for donations in order to acquire 15 small or extra small masks, due to the fact the Size M they have will not be able to fit their faces/frames.”
Mervyn Lee quotes the gist of what he says: “Why they want the full face masks is
because of it being safer than the black mouth piece that he holds up. If they can get the masks, they will have the kids try them on to see if they fit. The mouth piece is dangerous, he adds without explaining why. The purpose of the masks is because it is the safest of the breathing apparatus available.”
Thanks to Rob, K+, and Mim Kattinanon who also sent translations.
Thailand’s interior minister, Anupong Paojinda, has suggested the rescue attempt will be made over the next day or so, before a fresh downpour of monsoon rain.
The Bangkok Post quoted him saying: “As rain is forecast in the next few days, the evacuation must speed up. Diving gear will be used. If the water rises, the task will be difficult. We must bring the kids out before then.”
He added: “Diving is not easy. Those who have never done it will find it difficult, because there are narrow passages in the cave. They must be able to use diving gear. If the gear is lost at any moment, it can be dangerous to life.”
Updated
Appeal for small face masks
Rescuers have asked for the donation of 15 small full face masks, according to the Thai News of MCOT. This will fuel speculation that rescuers are preparing to guide the boys through the water in full diving gear.
Rescuers ask for donation of 15 small-sized full face masks for the boys in the cave. #TNAMCOTEnglish @TNAMCOT
— TNAMCOT English (@TNAMCOTEnglish) July 3, 2018
Judging by a Microsoft translation of this Twitter update, rescuers told reporters that the medium sized masks that they do have available were too big for the boys. If there are any Thai speakers reading this please email a translation to matthew.weaver@theguardian.com.
13.55 น.
— เกาะติด #ถ้ำหลวง ช่วย 13 นักเตะ (@WorkpointShorts) July 3, 2018
อังคาร 3 ก.ค.
พบ 13 นักเตะแล้ว รอออกจากถ้ำ
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ซีลประสานร่วมกตัญญูต้องการfull face mask ไซส์ S , XS จำนวน 15 ตัวสำหรับให้น้องๆใส่ออกมา เนื่องจากที่มีอยู่ตอนนี้เป็นไซส์ M ไม่พอดีหน้า
.#WorkpoinNews #ถ้ำหลวง #ThamLuang pic.twitter.com/bKkowx5aj5
Updated
Here’s a graphic showing the location of the trapped boys and their coach.
Bill Whitehouse, vice-chair of the British Cave Rescue Council which is helping the rescue efforts, played down speculation the boys could be taught to dive.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he suggested they could be guided through the water in “packages”.
Asked how feasible it would be to teach the children to dive, he said: “It is certainly not easy. The other alternative is that you literally bring them out in packages. In other words you fit them with diving equipment: a full face mask, instead of having a gag in your mouth like a lot of divers use; package them up; put the correct weights on them so that they are neutrally bouyant and are not going to get stuck again. It has been done before.”
He also explained how the British divers reached the trapped group.
They were diving upstream in the system so they were having to swim against the current, or pull themselves along the walls. Some of the cave is fairly constricted and other points aren’t. I gather the actual diving section was about 1.5km, about half of which was completely flooded and about half of which was open.
They estimated that a round trip to where the party was and back again is probably about three hours.
Whitehouse was sceptical about the prospects of pumping enough water out of the cave to allow the boys to walk to safety. He said: “They are trying to do that with pumping, but pumping a monsoon away is not that easy.”
Whitehouse described the British divers leading the mission as the “A Team”. He added: “They have been at the spearhead of making their way through, because they have the skills and the expertise to do it. One of the first things they had to do was lay a guideline so that they could get out again and so others could follow along.”
Updated
AFP has an Q&A on the next steps:
Could they dive out?
In theory yes: but it is an extremely difficult task. Cave diving is already very risky, especially for young boys in a weakened state who have no diving experience.
Tham Luang cave where the boys have been trapped is one of Thailand’s longest at 10km (6 miles) and one of the hardest to navigate with its winding and at times narrow corridors.
If they dive, they have no choice but to follow the steps that rescuers took though tiny passageways clogged with mud and silt. That journey takes a healthy - and skilled - Navy SEAL diver about six hours.
Officials said they would attempt to train the boys to use crucial diving gear after they are rehabilitated with food, water and medical support.
“Cave diving is a very technical skill and it’s extremely dangerous, especially for an untrained diver,” Anmar Mirza, coordinator of the US National Cave Rescue Commission. “So they may end up being better off trying to supply them in cave until they can be gotten out by other means.”
Could they be dug out?
Explorers have spent days scouring the mountain top for possible alternative openings. They have found a few “promising” leads and have tried to drill deeper.
But there is no indication that any of those chimneys connect to the chamber where the boys have been stranded.
Again, the boys need to spend time getting stronger in the depths of the cave before they can attempt to climb up a second entry - if one is found - or be lifted out.
What about walking out?
This would be the safest option, but at the moment it is impossible because parts of the route remain flooded.
So in theory they could wait, but that means hoping that flood waters subside.
Water pumps are working around the clock to drain the floods though it has been an uphill battle for much of the week as heavy rains refused to let up.
If the current break in bad weather sticks, this option could be more promising.
But weather forecasters warn downpours may soon return as monsoon season sets in.
“If the rain fills up the cave system then that might take months before the water drops again,” Belgian diver Ben Reymenants, owner of Blue Label Diving in Thailand who is assisting the search, told AFP.
How long could it take?
It depends how long it takes for them to regain strength.
Experts say they could remain inside for weeks - or even months - as rescuers work out the safest option for their extraction.
The military said Tuesday it was preparing enough food for four months but did not speculate they could be in there that long.
Are the boys in the right mindset to move?
They clearly want to leave. In footage that emerged after the boys were found by two British divers late Monday one asks to “go outside.”
One of the diver replies “I know, I understand... no, not today.”
Even if they are physically fit enough to dive, they will need the mental prowess to stay calm in the murky waters and claustrophobic passageways that stand between them and freedom.
“They’re mentally stable which is actually pretty good,” Reymenants said.
“Luckily the coach had the sanity of mind to keep them all together, huddled together to conserve their energy, that basically saved them.”
Bill Whitehouse, vice chairman of the British Cave Rescue Council, said the UK divers described the journey to the chamber as a “gnarly dive”.
“The description in (the) email was it was ‘a bit of a gnarly dive’, which means there was a bit of complications and problems,” he told BBC Breakfast.
“(There was) quite a strong current, so they were having to swim against the current and pull themselves along the wall. The visibility in the water wouldn’t have been very good.”
Two volunteer British cave divers, Richard Stanton and John Volanthen, are believed to be the first to locate the boys and their coach.
What we know so far
- Officials are sending in divers to secure the location where the 12 boys and their football coach are currently trapped by high water levels.
- There are fears that conditions are too dangerous to remove the boys immediately and so the military are sending in food provisions to last the group for up to four months, until the end of the monsoon season, when water levels recede making conditions safer to rescue the group.
- Divers will stay with the group while they wait to be extracted and will use the time to teach them how to use scuba gear, to aid with their eventual rescue.
- The Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters they were looking at all options, but “I don’t think they will be home soon.”
- A medical team has been sent in to assess the health of the trapped boys and their coach and reported back that they are all in good health or having only “light” injuries.
- A rescue diver has said the boys were “very weak, but alive”.
- Cave rescue experts have warned that any attempts to remove the boys while waters remain high could be “unbelievably dangerous” for the boys and their rescuers, given the conditions.
- News that the group has been found safe has been met with jubilation across Thailand, where news of the search is trending on Twitter and people are posting cartoon images of the team.
- The young football team, made up of 12 boys aged between 11 and 16, and their coach went missing on Saturday 23 June, after monsoon rains trapped them inside the Tham Luang cave network.
- They were found on Monday night after a nine-day round-the-clock search involving international teams of divers.
- Footage of the group, shot by the British divers who reached them first, showed the boys and their coach huddled on a ledge surrounded by water. They said they were hungry and asked what day it was and if they could leave.
And with that, I’m handing over to my colleague Matthew Weaver.
Another question that is cropping up quite a lot on Twitter is what the group ate and drank for nine days.
The answer is we don’t know yet. With food it is likely they ate nothing, or only the little food they might have brought with them into the caves.
One rescue diver reported the condition of the boys was “very weak” and the boys repeatedly told the British divers who found them that they were hungry, with one child telling his friend in Thai “Make sure they know we’re hungry”. So that fits with them not having much to eat while they have been trapped.
As for drinking water, it is likely they drank water that filtered through the rock, or even drank floodwater. Throughout the week officials have expressed concern that they boys may be drinking contaminated water and a priority is getting clean water or a water filtration system to the boys.
There is widespread relief that the boys have been found, after nine painful days of waiting.
Our south-east Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen wrote this report during the week about the terrible vigil that families had been forced to keep at the entrance of the cave as they waited for news.
Here’s how the nine-day search unfolded.
Updated
My colleague Luke Henrique-Gomes has this helpful explainer about what the options are for rescuing the boys and what the dangers are.
For those of you asking me questions on Twitter (and feel free to keep doing so), this explainer answers most of your questions, including why the children can’t just dive out immediately with rescuers and how long the rescue is likely to take.
Butch Hendricks, a veteran rescue diver and president of Lifeguard Systems in the US, says a key point is the fact none of the boys can swim.
If they’re not afraid of the water, they can be put into equipment they can breathe with, and a full face mask. They may need custom wetsuits so they don’t get so hypothermic they can’t function.
Because of the narrow passages, only one boy can be brought out at a time. Hendricks said: “If a problem occurs in that passageway, we’ve going to have a stall, then they will have a back-up, which could cause life and death.” He said the system would work like a relay, where each boy is passed between rescuers.
Updated
The intensive search for the 12 boys and their coach has been followed avidly in Thailand over the last week.
After the news broke that the group had been found safe, three hashtags to do with the search started trending on Twitter in Thailand: #13ชีวิตรอดแล้ว (the 13 have survived), as well as the name of the cave in both Thai and English: #ThamLuang #ถํ้าหลวง
Some expressed their excitement at the news by posting cartoon-stye drawings featuring inspirational slogans, or paying tribute to rescuers.
We found them. We found them. We found them. We found them.#ถ้ำหลวง #13ชีวิตต้องรอด pic.twitter.com/bjIrl0PqqI
— THA V🏐LLEYBALL (@thavolleyball) July 2, 2018
Finally, we did it. 😭#ถ้ำหลวง #13ชีวิตต้องรอด pic.twitter.com/4zZNrxRZt3
— вавч🦄 (@yaya____abstory) July 2, 2018
🐗:Hey you!
— รอทีมหมูป่ากลับมา (@milaculiz) July 2, 2018
🐗:Thank you. (Crying)
💂🏻♂️: How many of you?
🐗: 13!
💂🏻♂️: 13?
🐗: yeah 13!
💂🏻♂️: Many people are coming.
#13ชีวิตต้องรอด #ถำ้หลวง
Come back to home 🖤🖤 #ถ้ำหลวง #13ชีวิตต้องรอด pic.twitter.com/hgznZuAnqz
— Momay ' Za (@MomayZa16) July 2, 2018
ทุกคนปลอดภัย❤️#13ชีวิตต้องรอด pic.twitter.com/XoYxBpTGHb
— вавч🦄 (@yaya____abstory) July 2, 2018
HOPE is REAL.#ถ้ําหลวง#13ชีวิตต้องรอด#ทีมหมูป่าอะคาเดมี pic.twitter.com/AMQvPuJ9VV
— mmfany 👌🍑🍀🍍ปวกแค๊ะ (@maymayfany) July 2, 2018
In new video footage from the rescue site, diving expert Ben Reymenants has described the condition of the 12 boys and their coach as “very weak”.
“They’re very weak but they’re all alive,” he said.
“So they’ll be OK?” a reporter asked him.
“No guarantees, but yes,” he said.
Narongsak Osatanakorn, the governor of the province, announced that all the boys were in stable condition, though a few had “light injuries”. The group has been visited by medics and medication is being sent in to them.
Updated
The National News Bureau of Thailand has reported the steps the Thai Navy SEALs in charge of providing first aid to the football team will take to care for the boys. There are eight steps:
- A test of basic responses before each individual is placed on a board for transportation to an ambulance.
- The appraisal of each individual’s condition. Those who can sustain themselves will be removed from the cave, any who are in critical condition will be treated in the cave.
- Those who can leave the cave will be taken to a field hospital set up in front of the cave.
- A Triage and Resuscitation unit will assess the team. Any in critical condition will receive treatment at the field hospital, those who can be moved will be sent to hospital.
- Those who can be moved will be taken by helicopter to Chiang Rai hospital.
- Two doctors from the police general hospital and military will be on board each helicopter and will provide care for patients while onboard.
- Doctors at Chiang Rai hospital will take over care of the patients.
This process is expected to take just 30 minutes per person, though, obviously many of these steps will not be able to be taken until it is safe to remove the group from the cave.
Responding to a question from a reader, it is worth clarifying how the group got trapped in the cave network, given the boys cannot swim.
The boys are believed to have gone to the caves on an excursion with their football coach after football training on Saturday 23 June.
It is believed the boys crawled into the 10km cave system, before monsoon rains started suddenly and flooded the caves, trapping them inside and blocking rescuers’ attempts to get to them. The boys were found sheltering on a mud bank about two metres above the water level, so it seems they have climbed to higher ground as water levels have risen.
The Tham Luang cave network is one of Thailand’s longest and is a popular tourist attraction, though there are signs posted at the opening to the cave warning people that the cave network can become flooded during monsoon season.
Thanks for the question Andrew, if you have any questions or contributions, you can reach me on Twitter or on kate.lyons@theguardian.com
Updated
BBC News are reporting that four divers are currently approaching the boys to give them energy gels and first aid, saying that two in the group have “minor injuries”.
Their initial aim is to secure the area where the football team and their coach were found, which is a mud bank, roughly two metres above the water level, five kilometres into the 10km network of caves.
Divers will also be bringing the boys food supplies to last four months, in case they need to remain in the cave until the end of the monsoon season, as well as other supplies, like light sources and medication.
As we have already reported, the current plan is to wait until conditions have improved and the water level has dropped before attempting to move the group. In the meantime, divers will teach the boys how to use scuba gear.
The BBC also reported that efforts to pump water out of the cave network had continued and they were successfully removing 10,000 litres every hour, resulting in water levels in the cave network dropping by one centimetre an hour. However, heavy rains are meant to return to the area tomorrow.
The search in pictures. Click here to see the full gallery.
Thai people are sending thanks to the international community for assisting with the search for the missing boys and their coach.
In particular, many people are singling out Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, the British divers believed to be the first to make contact with the boys.
Thai blogger Kaewmala wrote “Thais are especially grateful to these British cave divers”, above pictures of Stanton and Volanthen and others posted pictures of the men and links to profiles of the men.
Thais are especially grateful to these British cave divers who, together with Thai Navy Seals, had first contact with the boys.
— Kaewmala (@Thai_Talk) July 3, 2018
Of course, many more play a part in this remarkable international search and rescue operation. And we are thankful to all involved. #ThamLuangRescue https://t.co/kFAnubXm2w
Great Job : คุณ เวิร์น อันเสวิร์ธ นักสำรวจถ้ำชาวอังกฤษ ยินดีที่ได้พบทีมหมูป่า Richard williams Stanton และ john Volanthen ซึ่งเป็นชุดล่วงหน้าร่วมกับหน่วยซีลไปพบทีมหมูป่า ยังไม่ให้สัมภาษณ์ใดๆ มีการให้ข้อมูลกับทีมซีลอเมริกันถึงจุดที่พบเด็กบริเวณเนินนมสาว pic.twitter.com/QK5jHVAoLc
— thapanee ietsrichai (@thapanee3miti) July 3, 2018
For more about the British divers, Eleanor Ainge Roy has this report.
Updated
German press agency DPA are reporting that officials are installing phone cables in the cave so parents can talk with their children, whom they have not seen in nine days. But that the governor has confirmed the children will definitely not be brought out of the cave today.
Latest update: #Thailand officials are installing phone cables in the cave so the parents can talk to their kids today. But they’re not gonn be brought out today for sure, according to the governor. #Thailandcave #ThaiCaveRescue #ThamLuang #Thamlaung #ถ้ำหลวง #ทีมหมูป่า
— Hathai Pia (@HathaiPia) July 3, 2018
What we know so far
- The military are sending in food provisions to last the boys and their football coach more than four months, as well as medication.
- Various options are being explored including teaching the boys – none of whom know how to swim – to dive or waiting for the water to subside, which could take months.
- The Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters they were looking at all options, but “I don’t think they will be home soon.”
- A medical team has been sent in to assess the health of the trapped boys and their coach and reported back that they are all in good health or having only “light” injuries.
- Cave rescue experts have warned that any attempts to remove the boys while waters remain high could be “unbelievably dangerous” for the boys and their rescuers, given the conditions.
- News that the group has been found safe has been met with jubilation across Thailand, where news of the search is trending on Twitter.
- The young football team, made up of 12 boys aged between 11 and 16, and their coach went missing on Saturday 23 June, after monsoon rains trapped them inside the Tham Luang cave network.
- They were found on Monday night after a nine-day round-the-clock search involving international teams of divers.
- Footage of the group, shot by the British divers who reached them first, showed the boys and their coach huddled on a ledge surrounded by water. They said they were hungry and asked what day it was and if they could leave.
Updated
Medical teams have managed to reach the group and assess their health. The teams were able to dive to where the boys and their coach are trapped, kilometres from the cave’s entrance.
“We categorized their health condition as red, yellow or green, red being the most severe injuries, yellow being mild and green being light. Yesterday, unofficially, we assessed that most are in the green category,” said Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn.
Medical teams will continue to monitor the boys’ health while they are trapped inside the cave network.
Narongsak said rescue workers would now focus on the “rescue” phase and now have to decide how best to get the group out in their weakened condition.
Options considered included waiting until water levels subsided, or teaching the group to use diving gear to navigate the flooded cave.
“If you ask me now while we are still assessing all sides then I don’t think they will be home soon,” said Narongsak.
Channel News Asia reports that the Thai prime minister has held a telephone conference with the rescuers at the cave, expressing his happiness that they have found the boys.
Meanwhile in Bangkok, Thai PM Prayuth held a teleconference with the rescue operations in Chiang Rai, expressing his happiness about the breakthrough at #ThamLuang cave. https://t.co/k0mE2URaLq
— Saksith Saiyasombut (@SaksithCNA) July 3, 2018
Two volunteer British cave divers who were the first to locate 12 Thai teenagers missing for nine days are world-leaders in cave rescue, and have frequently worked together on major search and rescue operations around the globe.
Rick Stanton, aged in his mid fifties, is a firefighter who hails from Coventry and is regarded as one of Britain’s foremost cave divers, with more than 35 years experience.
Stanton was awarded an MBE in 2012 for services to cave diving, and is often described as the face of British cave diving, and the best cave diver in Europe.
John Volanthen, who brushed off reporters when entering the cave six days ago, saying only “We’ve got a job to do,” started out as a dry caver who has helped pioneer new equipment that allows cave divers to stay underwater for longer and at greater depths.
Volanthen is a computer engineer who runs marathons in his spare time and lives in Bristol.
In 2010, the pair attempted the rescue of accomplished French diver Eric Establie, who was trapped by a silt avalanche inside the Ardeche Gorge, near Marseille.
It is believed the French government requested Stanton and Volanthen by name. The duo received medals from the Royal Humane Society for their eight-day effort to save Establie, whose body they recovered from the cave.
Military send in food supplies to last four months, as group prepares for long wait in cave
The trapped group of 12 boys and their football coach will be supplied with four months’ worth of food and get diving training, the military said, as focus shifted to the tricky task of evacuating the group from the complex underground system.
The boys aged between 11 and 16, were discovered with their 25-year-old coach late Monday, huddled on a ledge deep inside a flooded cave nine days after they became trapped in a pitch black cave hemmed by rising floodwaters.
Much-needed food and medical supplies – including high-calorie gels and paracetamol – reached them Tuesday as rescuers prepared for the possibility that they may be there for some time.
“[We will] prepare to send additional food to be sustained for at least four months and train all 13 to dive while continuing to drain the water,” Navy Captain Anand Surawan said, according to a statement from Thailand’s Armed Forces.
The miracle rescue sparked jubilation across the country after a gruelling operation beset by heavy downpours and fast-moving flooding floods.
“We called this mission impossible because it rained every day... but with our determination and equipment we fought nature,” Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said Tuesday.
“The doctor advised that we should provide several kinds of medicine to prevent infection and other illness,” adding that medics had reached the young footballers.
The boys were found late Monday by British divers, with footage showing them huddled on a mud mound deep inside the cave.
Boys likely to be trapped for months, say experts
An Australian cave diving expert says the operation to save 12 boys and a football coach trapped in a Thai cave is likely to take months.
Peter Wolf, the national director of the Cave Divers Association of Australia, said getting the group out any sooner was not viable given the boys could not swim.
“The best option is to leave them where they are and stabilise their environment to make sure the core ingredients are met. Given the environment is pretty wet, to keep them warm and dry, provide them with clean drinking water, food, and clean air,” Wolf said.
“Depending on the size of the chamber they’re in, the clean air is a concern as well.”
With the rescuers, doctors and other staff likely to enter the cave, rescuers could open scuba tanks to ensure they had all enough oxygen.
“It will create air pressure and the carbon dioxide will filter out through the rock,” Wolf said.
The rescuers, which include expert teams from the UK, Australia, China, were facing a logistical “nightmare”.
“The length of the cave and the conditions that they’re actually diving in means there are probably very few people on the planet who can actually get those provisions to them,” Wolf said.
“But the cave divers they’ve got over there are some of the most experienced in the world, especially when it comes to search and rescue operations.”
“The visibility is likely to be very close to zero which means they’ll be able to see a little bit but they’ll be feeling their way along. And we’re talking about lengths of kilometres.
“So they’ll be laying guideline to get to where they are going and to find their way out. It takes a lot of training and experience to be comfortable in that environment. It’s pitch black, except for the lights you bring yourself.”
Wolf, who has 10 years of experience as a cave diver, said the only similar successful rescue operation he knew of took place when 12 experienced cave divers were saved from the flooded Pannikin Plains cave, in Australia, in the 1980s.
The front pages of the English language Thai newspapers don’t have the news of the rescue on them, as they went to press before divers made contact with the boys.
The Bangkok Post focuses on the international nature of the rescue mission, whereas the Nation has news that the divers were approaching Pattaya Beach, where rescuers hoped the boys were sheltering.
Updated
News that the boys and their coach have been found is trending on Twitter today.
In Thailand, three hashtags to do with the search are trending: #13ชีวิตรอดแล้ว (the 13 have survived), as well as the name of the cave in both Thai and English: #ThamLuang #ถํ้าหลวง
Trending on Twitter in #Thailand this morning is the hashtag to do with the miracle survival of the 12 soccer players and their coach: #13ชีวิตรอดแล้ว (The 13 have survived)
— Richard Barrow in Thailand (@RichardBarrow) July 3, 2018
🇹🇭 Also trending is the name of the cave in English and Thai: #ThamLuang #ถํ้าหลวง pic.twitter.com/Omod2CyvEW
An underwater cave rescue expert has warned it would be safest for the boys to “wait it out” and remain in the caves, potentially for weeks, until the water subsides, rather than attempt to swim out of the caves.
“It’s going to be a difficult rescue from here on,” Edd Sorenson of International Cave Rescue and Recovery, told BBC News.
He said that for a trained and skilled diver the conditions in the cave, with almost no visibility and rushing water, made swimming there “extremely dangerous”, and for someone not trained “it’s unbelievably dangerous”
“It’s extremely likely they could panic when they get in the water,” he said.
He said it would be safer to wait “days or weeks” for water levels to drop.
“As long as the kids know we know where they’re at, they have food, a way to keep warm, water or filtration systems and light, it would really be the safest to wait it out. But taking them in the water would be extremely dangerous for the kids and the coach but also for the rescuers.”
False reporting about the search for the missing boys has abounded on Thai Facebook groups and some news outlets, during the nine-day search.
The head of the Thai rescue mission had to deny false reports that began circulating on Facebook on the weekend that the group had been rescued on Sunday.
“On Sunday, there was false news that the 13 had already been found,” said Thai newspaper The Nation. “And because more and more people were believing it, Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn, the head of the rescue operation, had to find time to make it clear that if it were true he would be directly informing reporters and everyone at the scene.”
The Nation said that as the rescue mission stretched into its second week, people were “floating alternative theories that there must be more to it than meets the eye”.
Among the conspiracy theories espoused by Facebook pages and media outlets was that the missing boys might have witnessed a drug-related crime and been kidnapped or that the boys had already been found but authorities were keeping this news secret.
“Some traditional and mainstream media, meanwhile, are also in competition to get news and reports, resulting in some false reports,” wrote the Nation. “For instance, a TV news channel reported that some volunteers had heard a knock and the sound of scratching on the cave wall when they had knocked and called out to the missing boys. But the officials rejected the story.”
Updated
This story has captured international attention and is on the front page of the Tuesday editions of several British papers.
The Guardian carries a large picture of one of the relieved relatives with the caption: “We found them safe”.
Tuesday’s GUARDIAN: Treasury preparing to increase fuel duty #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/aPATpBGFHc
— Helen Miller (@MsHelicat) July 2, 2018
The Times splashes on a picture of the boys perched inside the cave, nine days after they went missing.
Tuesday’s TIMES: May’s Brexit peace offer sparks Tory infighting #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/iLG1goTnl6
— Helen Miller (@MsHelicat) July 2, 2018
Dr Ricky Greenwald, founder and director of the Child Trauma Institute in Massachusets has told BBC News that the trauma suffered by the boys trapped in the cave for so long without any idea what would happen to them and without food, was akin to someone returning from a “combat experience” and that they may need psychological help in their recovery.
“It’s not very different from people coming back from an intense combat experience, where it looks like the life you left, but you don’t feel normal anymore, it’s a big culture shock, I think even with good family support and community support and medical care, it’s going to be a lot for children to adjust,” said Greenwald.
The families of the missing boys have shared photographs of the group with reporters outside the cave entrance.
The British Cave Rescue Council, which has sent divers to help with the rescue operation, has released a statement describing the logistical difficulties of rescuing the boys and their coach.
Vice chair of the British Cave Rescue Council, Bill Whitehouse said the rescue mission has been made more difficult because there is likely only going to be a short break in the monsoon rains and because of the small space the group are in, which makes drilling difficult.
Whitehouse also estimated that the boys are around 2km into the cave and somewhere between 800 m to 1km below the surface. He cautioned that diving conditions remained “very difficult”.
Here is Whitehouse’s full statement:
Around 16:30h this afternoon, we started to receive the remarkable news that all 12 of the boys and their coach had been located in a dry air space south of the Pattaya Beach area of Tham Luang Nang Non Cave. It is estimated that they are around 200 m south of that underground landmark.
Shortly after this news, we received a direct (but short confirmation) from our British cave divers of the joyful news that the lost boys had been located alive. Video footage of the boys and their coach has now been released and shown to families waiting on the surface.
Two British, volunteer cave divers found the boys at their current location, but the last 36 hours have seen a coordinated and planned approach to the rescue being led by the Thai Military and involving many other nations (including the USA, Chinese, Australians and others).
Equipment and air supplies have been ferried in to the system over the last day or so, enabling the divers to progress further in to the system than was previously possible. Diving lines have been laid to the boys’ location for other divers to follow with essential food, comforts and medical supplies.
We believe that there is only a short break in the monsoon and all feasible options for the rescue of the boys are being considered. Although water levels have dropped, the diving conditions remain difficult and any attempt to dive the boys and their coach out will not be taken lightly because there are significant technical challenges and risks to consider.
It is estimated that the boys are around 2 km into the cave and somewhere between 800 m to 1km below the surface. They are also located in a relatively small space and this would make any potential drilling attempt as a means of rescue very difficult.
Back here in the UK, there is an assessment of electronic equipment that may be suitable to pin-point the underground location of the boys and coach with a greater degree of accuracy than the published surveys. The necessary equipment will be sent to Thailand if electronic experts agree on the feasibility that it will operate over such depths.
What we know so far
- 12 boys, aged between 11 and 16 and their football coach, who have been missing for nine days, have been found by divers
- In footage from British divers who reached the group, the boys said they were OK but hungry
- They were found sheltering on a dry piece of ground surrounded by water
- Divers who are part of the rescue operation have warned that extracting the boys from the cave network could take weeks or even months
- None of the boys can swim or dive and rescuers have said they may have to wait several months for the water to subside so they can carry the boys to safety, or teach them how to dive, though rescue teams are still pumping water out of the cave network
- The boys have been provided with energy gels to sustain them and divers are in the caves to keep them company. There are reports that medical staff will dive into the cave system and conduct medical examinations of the group later today
- There has been jubilation in Thailand at the news the boys and their coach are alive, especially among relatives who have been keeping vigil outside the entrance to the cave since the boys were reported missing on Saturday 23 June
- The Thai prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, wished the group a “safe and speedy recover” and thanked the rescuers, including the foreign teams who have flocked from Australia, Japan, the US and Britain to help with the search
- There has been a round-the-clock rescue effort to try to find the group, but rescuers were stymied again and again by muddy water rising to the ceiling of the chamber, forcing them to withdraw for safety reasons
- The boys are members of Moo Pa academy and are believed to have crawled into the 10km Tham Luang cave network in Chiang Rai in the north of Thailand, before monsoon rains flooded the caves, trapping them inside and blocking rescuers’ attempts to get to them
- The team had cycled to the cave with their coach after football practice on 23 June. Their shoes and bicycles were found at the entrance to the cave
Updated
Locals have been carrying scuba gear and pipes up to the rescue site all week – the grey pipes are to pump water out of the caves, the orange ones to pump in oxygen.
Rescuers have been pumping water out of caves for days in the hope that they may be able to reduce the water level sufficiently to allow the children – none of whom can swim or dive – to be carried to safety.
But CNN reports that if this doesn’t work there is talk of teaching the boys how to dive, so they can reach safety that way. But that plan would obviously take a lot longer.
The boys have been provided with energy gel to eat and people have been sent to keep them company while the “logistical plan” is worked out, the Thai navy SEAL unit said on its official Facebook page.
“Power gel and sustenance equipment has been brought ... to the team ... and we’ve sent people to keep them company until the transport plan can begin,” said the post.
The Navy SEALs were jubilant in tone, writing on Facebook, in English “Hooyah” at the end of the post, but warned “our mission is not over”.
Rescue could take months, says diver
This is Kate Lyons taking over from Mattha Busby.
There has been jubilation at the news the boys have been found safe. But it may be weeks, or even months, until the boys are brought out of the cave, warned one diver involved in the rescue mission.
The diver who spoke to BBC Newsnight said it could be weeks until the water subsides enough for the rescue to be completed and that none of the children can swim or dive, which will slow rescue plans.
So there’s two volunteer Navy Seal doctors that actually sacrificed themselves to stay with the kids up to three, four months until the water subsides. Now the real hard work begins to get these kids out. None of them can swim or dive so that’s going to be a real challenge.
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Ben Reymenants, a Belgian rescuer who is part of the international team which is assisting the Thai authorities, has told BBC Newsnight that it was a “miracle” that the boys were still alive.
Miraculously they found the kids and they all seemed to be in good mental health,” he said in an interview with Emily Maitlis.
Obviously very weak but they’re all alive and they’ve been sitting on a piece of rock in a dry room for about ten days so that is a miracle.
He said that its quite warm in the cave, at a temperature of around 26 degrees, and water is dripping from the walls.
This meant that, luckily, the children were unlikely to have experienced dehydration and hyperthermia.
“They are 2.3 kilometres inside a very complex cave system,” says diving instructor Ben Reymenants, adding that time is not on the rescuers’ side as heavy rain is expected in the next few days #newsnight pic.twitter.com/xbFmHpSDPx
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) July 2, 2018
Kids usually can survive quite long without food so they’re obviously very skinny and there’s some muscle atrophy,” he explained.
Now, as we speak, there are two Navy SEAL medics went to them with food and medication to get them back to strength and then a plan will be decided to extract them from the cave because at the end of the day they are 2.3km inside a very complex cave system.
The issue is that time is not really on our side because they’re expecting heavy rains within three days and the cave system [could] just flood, making access impossible for the kids.
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According to a Thai army chief, the heroic British team who helped to spearhead the search for the young footballers went straight from the plane, after they arrived in the country, into the cave to assess the situation.
When they were asked about the task at hand as they walked to the cave, John Volanthen told the BBC: “We’ve got a job to do.”
Heroes: Richard William Stanton, Robert Charles Harpe and John Volanthen#ThailandCave Rescue pic.twitter.com/z2X3wonH4D
— Tracey Eva Edwards #REMAIN #RESIST (@TracevaToons) July 2, 2018
In 2010, Volanthen and Stanton were among a team that set a new world-record after diving 5.5 miles into the unexplored Pozo Azul cave system in Spain.
In an interview with the Sunday Times magazine in 2013, Volanthen, an IT consultant from Bristol, said he began caving as a scout.
“I enjoy the logistical challenge,” he said. “Getting us and all our kit to the end of such a long cave… it’s like that puzzle with the fox, the chicken and the grain. It’s not dangerous if you do it right. There are just a large number of little things that you have to be on top of at all times.”
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'It’s going to be a long process before they get them out'
Thousands of gallons of water is being pumped from the cave every hour but more rain later this week is expected to complicate the boys’ escape.
“It’s going to be a long process before they get them out,” says the BBC’s Jonathan Head, who is at the scene.
Meanwhile, Channel 4 have spoken to Charli Sandford, a teenage volunteer who has been helping at the scene, as part of their coverage on the events which have unfolded throughout this evening and in recent days.
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The BBC’s Jonathan Head has given this update to the BBC News at 10.
“We’ve seen growing confidence in the divers in recent days after last week when they were driven by rising waters almost back to the entrance of the cave behind me.
But we knew there were big challenges potentially ahead, nobody was sure that the boys would even be in this place they were heading for.
Nobody had any contact with them, or even [knew] if they were alive and now we’ve had this seemingly miraculous outcome.”
The segment then switched to the footage that the divers recorded when they found the boys – who were still wearing their football kits from their training session on June 23.
“How many of you?” asked John Valanthan, one of the British divers.
“Thirteen,” the boys responded in chorus, confirming the number of people who had been lost.
“What day?” they then asked.
“Monday,” Valanthan replied. “You have been here ten days. You are very strong.”
One of the boys then asked for food, telling the divers that he was hungry.
“I know. I understand. We come, OK, we come,” he responded.
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Timeline: how they were found
25 June: the search and rescue operation began after the 13 went missing two days earlier after a monsoon flooded the cave’s entrance.
26 June: drainage of the cave began in order to provide divers with breathing space between the water and the ceiling.
27 June: heavy ongoing showers meant rescuers could not operate effectively.
28 June: three British divers, Richard William Stanton, Robert Charles Harper and John Volanthen, joined the search as torrential rain continued to hamper progress.
29 June: the boys’ relatives held a vigil outside of the cave as the Thai PM visited the scene.
30 June: Thai authorities dropped packages including food, medicine, torches and water through a fissure into the cave.
1 July: Thai Navy SEAL divers made encouraging progress and rescuers announced they believed the boys had a chance of survival.
2 July: The boys and their coach were found alive, although they were in “very weak” conditions.
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The BBC has a moving two-minute video that sketches a picture of a nation in prayer, from the boys’ school, to their village, and back to the scene where the filmmakers speak to Rob Harper, a British caver.
It is currently 03:50 in Thailand and the boys are half-way through their tenth night in the cave.
We shall continue to update this blog throughout the night.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @MatthaBusby.
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The 12 boys are members of the Moo Pa, aka Wild Boar, football team.
Their 25-year-old coach, Ekkapol Janthawong, occasionally takes them out on day trips - in fact, he took the boys on an excursion to the same cave two years ago.
The youngest member of the squad is Chanin “Titan” Wibrunrungrueang, 11, who started playing football aged seven.
The team’s captain, Duangpet “Dom” Promtep, 13, is said to be the groups’ motivating force.
The team had cycled to the cave with their coach after football practice on 23 June. Their shoes and bicycles were found at the entrance to the cave.
Football is increasingly popular in Thailand and, like much of the world, the Premier League is well-watched with many supporting Leicester City – whose owner is Thai.
The national team has never qualified for the World Cup and came bottom of their qualifying group, which was topped by Japan with Saudi Arabia coming in a point behind, for the tournament this year.
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It could take hours to remove each individual child, according to Butch Hendrick, an American rescue diver, who has spoken to CNN this evening.
They’d have to make sure that each one was successfully out before they started with the next one because if they suddenly had a problem they don’t want to be halfway through the exit and realize they have to go back.
It could be multiple hours per person for sure based on the distance interior they are in the cave.
Hendrick set out the three steps that the rescue team are likely to follow when and if they decide to remove the boys.
- Medical personnel will check the boys and their assistant coach so they can decide who will go first
- They will likely be given oxygen if they can’t swim
- Two to three people will assist the boys and their coach to get through the narrow passages
Veteran rescue diver Butch Hendrick says it could take multiple hours to remove one boy from the cave. pic.twitter.com/aBeL37ZMQM
— Veronica Rocha (@VeronicaRochaLA) July 2, 2018
Tham Luang cave is one of Thailand’s longest and one of the toughest to navigate while a sign outside the site warns visitors not to enter the cave during the rainy season between July and November.
Read Jon Henley’s updated piece for the full story as the boys remain trapped inside the cave.
Local officials and rescuers have described how the extremely narrow passageways within the cave, which go upward in some places and downward in others, have made it difficult for divers and their gear to fit through.
After they were repeatedly forced to withdraw due to the rising water levels, the divers adopted a more methodical approach using a rope line and extra oxygen supplies to help them along the way.
Meanwhile, teams on the ground have been working to pump out water, as well as divert groundwater, which would make the boys’ exit from the cave easier.
Other efforts have focused on locating mountainside shafts which could serve as a back door to the blocked-off areas.
The rescue operation team will now have to deduce which of these methods, in addition to teaching the boys how to dive, is likely to be most successful if water levels do not fall.
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It is understood that the two British divers who were the first to speak to the lost boys are named Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, who are world-renowned for their rescue and recovery work in caves.
In 2010 they were specifically requested by the French authorities to help rescue a diver trapped underground for a week.
The BBC wrote about their adventures in 2016.
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The BBC’s Jonathan Head, who is at the scene, told the BBC News Channel that although there is a feeling that the nine-day saga will have a happy ending, the technically “difficult way out” must now be confronted.
For the moment, for everybody here, there is just something almost unbelievable that they’re absorbing a happy ending that had seemed increasingly hard to believe in,” he said.
Now, of course, the challenge to get them out has to be confronted. There are meetings taking place now to look at what their options are, heavy rain is expected later this week, that could make the water in there a lot more dangerous.
As you can hear from the generators you’ve constantly got huge amounts of water being brought out from the caves. They may opt to try to do that to get the boys out when they get the water levels down.
They’ve clearly got to fix whatever health problems they’ve got, treat them [and] rebuild their strength before they can even think of taking them out. Or, they may consider giving them rudimentary diving training and to bring them out along the guide ropes that they’ve now established but it is a technically a very difficult way out.”
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Footage emerges of Thai football team alive inside the cave
In a video posted on Facebook by Thailand’s Navy Seals the boys confirm that there are 13 people inside the cave.
The voices of the English rescuers can be heard telling the group that the rescue may take some time: “There’s only two of us, you have to dive.”
Reassuringly he tells them: “We’re coming, it’s OK. Many people are coming, we are the first.”
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The boys’ relatives have been waiting near the cave in an increasing state of desperation for days. Joy overcame them and they embraced each other as the news that the boys had been found emerged.
“I’m so glad... I want to him to be physically and mentally fit,” said Tinnakorn Boonpiem, whose 12-year-old son Mongkol is among the 13.
“I found out from the television... I’m so happy I can’t put it into words,” another relative of one of one of the group told television reporters with tears of joy streaming down his cheeks.
Now, however, they face yet another nerve-wracking wait.
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The British Cave Rescue Council (BCRC) are assisting with the operation in the popular tourist cave.
Liaison officer Chris Jewell said the BCRC responded to a request for assistance from the Thai authorities last week and promptly sent three experienced cave divers to Thailand from Heathrow.
He thanked the Derbyshire constabulary and other police forces for helping to deliver their specialist cave diving rescue equipment to the airport in time for their flight.
The UK team are experts in low visibility cave dives within small passages.
Jewell said: “Thoughts are very much of those unfortunate boys and their coach trapped underground and distraught family members waiting above.”
The football team disappeared after entering the cave with their coach on 23 June.
They were trapped by rising floodwater, prompting a desperate round-the-clock search beset by torrential downpours that initially stopped divers going in until they were found nine days later.
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‘Our brothers are safe’: the moment it was announced that the boys had been found
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It remains unclear whether any of the group are injured or in need of medical attention, but they have been given energy gels to sustain them while a plan is worked out to bring them to safety.
The boys are around a mile and a half underground in an area known as Patia beach and it could be days until they are successfully brought to the surface.
Captain Jessica Tait of the US Air Force, who joined the Thai-led international rescue mission from their base in Okinawa, Japan, told Sky News that its “not done” yet.
“We need to start thinking about isolated personnel and it’s about being able to bring them back safely,” she said.
The director of the school where half the boys go said they only had two to three days of food with them and Tait, who is part of a team of survival experts, paid tribute to the boys’ “mental fortitude” because people can survive in unideal conditions if the “heart is there”.
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Rescuers searched for Thai boys as their families waited nervously outside
Footage from inside the cave shows rescuers going deeper into the flooded cave as the search for 12 trapped boys and their football coach entered its seventh day.
Aektrakoon Suwanmard, a member of the football team, said he went to practice with the team on the day they went missing but opted against going inside the cave because he had to go home early.
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The desperate search for the boys and their coach has captivated Thailand and drawn sympathy from across the world as help has arrived from far and wide.
There is a 30-member US military team aiding the search operation, along with an Australian group of rescuers; while British cave experts and Chinese lifesaving responders and several other volunteer groups from various countries are assisting in the wider effort.
Prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has thanked everyone for their “tremendous efforts” in helping to locate the missing.
“The Royal Thai government and the Thai people are grateful for this support and cooperation, and we all wish the team a safe and speedy recovery,” his office said in a statement.
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Although the divers are now with the missing football team and their coach, a number of challenges remain for the rescuers in northern Thailand, where it is 00:35 local time.
Anmar Mirza, a leading American cave rescue expert, said the primary decision is whether to try to evacuate the boys and their coach or to feed supplies through to them.
“Supplying them on site may face challenges depending on how difficult the dives are,” Mirza, coordinator of the US National Cave Rescue Commission, told the Associated Press.
“Trying to take non-divers through a cave is one of the most dangerous situations possible, even if the dives are relatively easy. That also begets the question: if the dives are difficult then supply will be difficult, but the risk of trying to dive them out is also exponentially greater.”
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Rescuers are working to free 12 missing boys and their football coach who have been found alive nine days after going missing in a flooded cave in Thailand
The governor of Chiang Rai province, Narongsak Osottanakorn, said Thai navy Seals had found the group in the six-mile Tham Luang Nang Non cave, on the border with Laos and Myanmar, “all with signs of life”.
He said, in comments broadcast nationwide, that the 13 were in the process of being rescued, but warned that he did not know their condition and they not were out of danger yet. “We found them safe. But the operation isn’t over,” he said.
The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach went missing after entering the cave on 23 June and being trapped by rising floodwater, prompting a desperate round-the-clock search beset by torrential downpours that stopped divers going in.
The international rescue effort has gripped Thailand. Cave diving experts flew in from the UK, and 17 US air force rescue and survival specialists travelled from Japan to join the 132 Thai army, navy and police officers working day and night to try to find the group.
Jon Henley has the latest story here and we will keep you updated as the rescue operation unfolds throughout tonight and into the morning.
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