6 years ago
Mae Sai, Thailand:
A dangerous mission to rescue 12 Thai schoolboys and their soccer coach trapped inside a flooded cave for more than two weeks began today and authorities said the four survivors have emerged in the evening. The boys and coach of the "Wild Boar" football team prepare to be rescued from the cramped chamber several kilometers inside the Tham Luang cave complex, after being trapped inside for fifteen days. The initial euphoria of finding the boys alive tuned into deep anxiety as rescuers raced to find a way to get them out.
The boys and the coach will dive out of the cave one at a time, each accompanied by a member of a team of international and Thai divers. The rescue team is already inside the cave carrying out the operation. The rescued boys are at a hospital near the cave.
Here are the Live Updates of the rescue operation of the Thai boys from the cave:
UPDATE: News agency Reuters have clarified that only 4 boys have exited the cave till now.
The evacuation has been on hold for at least the next 10 hours, the rescue commander told news agency AFP.
90 divers are involved in the rescue operations, 50 are foreigners and 40 are Thai, the head of rescue operations has said.
Donald Trump had also tweeted about the Thai rescue effort saying that the US was working in close contact with the government to aid the efforts.
The U.S. is working very closely with the Government of Thailand to help get all of the children out of the cave and to safety. Very brave and talented people!
-Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2018
Here is a timeline of the efforts to find and free the group:
Saturday, June 23
The youngsters, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old coach enter the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand during heavy rains after football practice.
They are reported missing by a mother after her son does not come home that night. Local officials find bicycles locked to a fence and shoes and football boots close to the entrance.
Sunday, June 24
Park officials and police find handprints and footprints believed to belong to the boys. Relatives start to keep a vigil outside the cave.
Monday, June 25
Thai Navy SEAL divers enter the cave searching for the boys. Makeshift shrines are set up for parents to pray and make offerings as heavy rains continue.
Tuesday, June 26
Divers reach a T-junction several kilometres inside the cave but are forced back by rushing floodwaters that clog a narrow crevice near an elevated air pocket called "Pattaya Beach", where the boys are believed to have retreated.
Wednesday, June 27
A team of more than 30 American military personnel from the US Pacific Command arrive, including pararescue and survival specialists.
Thursday, June 28
The underwater rescue is temporarily halted after downpours bring fast-moving floods inside the cave.
Water pumps are shipped in to drain the rising, murky floodwaters and drones are dispatched to help find new vents in the cave roof.
Friday, June 29
Thailand's junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha visits the site, leads a meditation and jokes and cooks with relatives, asking them not to give up hope.
Saturday, June 30
A break in the rain allows divers to reach further inside the cave but they are still a long distance from where the boys are believed to be.
Sunday, July 1
Monday, July 2
Finally, a miracle: the 12 boys and their coach are found alive late Monday evening about 400 metres beyond Pattaya Beach.
Crowds at the teeming rescue site cheer the good news, but attention soon turns to the difficult task of getting the boys out safely.
Tuesday, July 3
Much-needed food and medical supplies -- including high-calorie gels and paracetamol -- reach the boys as rescuers prepare for the possibility that they may remain in the cave for some time.
Wednesday, July 4
Officials say the group are being taught how to use diving masks and breathing apparatuses. Teams pump out water around the clock as more rain is forecast for the days ahead.
Thursday, July 5
In a sign of increased urgency, authorities say expected rains may force a complex rescue quicker than first thought. A team of bird's nest collectors scour the mountainside in search of new openings into the cave roof.
Friday, July 6
Tragedy strikes: a diver helping to establish an airline to the boys dies after passing out while returning from the chamber.
Saman Kunan's death raises serious doubts over the safety of attempting a rescue through the cave's cramped and waterlogged passageways.
Thailand's Navy SEAL commander says oxygen levels inside have dropped. He warns the window of opportunity to free the youngsters is "limited", in the first official admission that the rescue cannot wait out the monsoon rains.
Saturday, July 7
Rescue operation chief Narongsak Osottanakorn says it is "not suitable" yet to have the boys dive to safety.
A scrawled message emerges from the team's coach, offering his "apologies" to their parents.
The head of the rescue mission says more than 100 vents are being drilled into the mountainside in a frantic bid to reach the boys.
Sunday, July 8
Authorities announce that, with more heavy rain expected soon, the extraction operation has begun.
Thirteen "world class" foreign divers and Thai Navy Seals enter the cave as the rescue begins.
6 boys have been rescued from the cave as of yet.
(Source: AFP and Reuters)
Saturday, June 23
The youngsters, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old coach enter the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand during heavy rains after football practice.
They are reported missing by a mother after her son does not come home that night. Local officials find bicycles locked to a fence and shoes and football boots close to the entrance.
Sunday, June 24
Park officials and police find handprints and footprints believed to belong to the boys. Relatives start to keep a vigil outside the cave.
Monday, June 25
Thai Navy SEAL divers enter the cave searching for the boys. Makeshift shrines are set up for parents to pray and make offerings as heavy rains continue.
Tuesday, June 26
Divers reach a T-junction several kilometres inside the cave but are forced back by rushing floodwaters that clog a narrow crevice near an elevated air pocket called "Pattaya Beach", where the boys are believed to have retreated.
Wednesday, June 27
A team of more than 30 American military personnel from the US Pacific Command arrive, including pararescue and survival specialists.
They are joined by three British diving experts who enter the cave but quickly retreat in the face of heavy flooding.
The underwater rescue is temporarily halted after downpours bring fast-moving floods inside the cave.
Water pumps are shipped in to drain the rising, murky floodwaters and drones are dispatched to help find new vents in the cave roof.
Friday, June 29
Thailand's junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha visits the site, leads a meditation and jokes and cooks with relatives, asking them not to give up hope.
Saturday, June 30
A break in the rain allows divers to reach further inside the cave but they are still a long distance from where the boys are believed to be.
Sunday, July 1
Divers inch further into the cave, as an operating base is set up inside and hundreds of air tanks and other supplies are pulleyed in.
Monday, July 2
Finally, a miracle: the 12 boys and their coach are found alive late Monday evening about 400 metres beyond Pattaya Beach.
Crowds at the teeming rescue site cheer the good news, but attention soon turns to the difficult task of getting the boys out safely.
Tuesday, July 3
Much-needed food and medical supplies -- including high-calorie gels and paracetamol -- reach the boys as rescuers prepare for the possibility that they may remain in the cave for some time.
Wednesday, July 4
Officials say the group are being taught how to use diving masks and breathing apparatuses. Teams pump out water around the clock as more rain is forecast for the days ahead.
Thursday, July 5
In a sign of increased urgency, authorities say expected rains may force a complex rescue quicker than first thought. A team of bird's nest collectors scour the mountainside in search of new openings into the cave roof.
Friday, July 6
Tragedy strikes: a diver helping to establish an airline to the boys dies after passing out while returning from the chamber.
Saman Kunan's death raises serious doubts over the safety of attempting a rescue through the cave's cramped and waterlogged passageways.
Thailand's Navy SEAL commander says oxygen levels inside have dropped. He warns the window of opportunity to free the youngsters is "limited", in the first official admission that the rescue cannot wait out the monsoon rains.
Saturday, July 7
Rescue operation chief Narongsak Osottanakorn says it is "not suitable" yet to have the boys dive to safety.
A scrawled message emerges from the team's coach, offering his "apologies" to their parents.
The head of the rescue mission says more than 100 vents are being drilled into the mountainside in a frantic bid to reach the boys.
Sunday, July 8
Authorities announce that, with more heavy rain expected soon, the extraction operation has begun.
Thirteen "world class" foreign divers and Thai Navy Seals enter the cave as the rescue begins.
6 boys have been rescued from the cave as of yet.
(Source: AFP and Reuters)
The death of a former Thai Navy SEAL diver who ran out of oxygen in the cave on Friday underscored the danger of the journey even for professionals.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, leader of the military junta that seized power in 2014, planned to visit the cave site on Monday, a government spokesman told Reuters.
His visit with relatives and rescue officials last week was criticised by some Thais as opportunistic as his government faced pro-democracy protests in the capital Bangkok in recent months.
His visit with relatives and rescue officials last week was criticised by some Thais as opportunistic as his government faced pro-democracy protests in the capital Bangkok in recent months.
- Thirteen medical teams were stationed outside the cave - each with its own helicopter and ambulance - one for each of 12 boys and their coach.
- After an initial assessment at the site, the plan was to airlift the boys to a makeshift helipad close to the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital, some 70 km away.
- A source at the hospital said that five emergency response doctors were awaiting the party and a further 30 doctors were on stand-by, adding that everyone was feeling tense.
- The area outside the hospital was cordoned off with police patrolling the area, said a Reuters reporter at the scene. Down the street, a loud speaker told vendors to "keep off the road" and to "not obstruct the transfer mission".
An Australian doctor who is part of the rescue mission checked the health of the boys on Saturday night and gave the all-clear for the operation to proceed.
The boys were discovered by British divers Richard Stanton and John Volanthen on Monday.
The boys were discovered by British divers Richard Stanton and John Volanthen on Monday.
Of the 13-strong foreign dive team - mainly from Europe - three were escorting the children, while the remainder were positioned along the dangerous first kilometre stretch, where the boys will have to navigate through submerged passageways in some places no more than two feet (0.6 metre) wide.
Rescuing them all could take three to four days and depended on the weather, an army commander involved in the mission had said earlier.
The rescue teams had rehearsed the plan for several days, Narongsak said, and had managed to drain the water level in the cave considerably, but needed to move fast.
The rescue teams had rehearsed the plan for several days, Narongsak said, and had managed to drain the water level in the cave considerably, but needed to move fast.
A helicopter flew some of the boys to the nearby city of Chiang Rai where they were taken by ambulance to hospital.
The rescue operations have come after a series of preparations made by the authorities with help from international volunteers and professional divers.
India's Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted for the well being and safety of the boys and lauded the efforts of the rescue team.
The 25-year-old coach of the youth football team offered his "apologies to the parents" of the boys in a scrawled note released by the Thai Navy and the players from the football team wrote short notes in the gloom, reassuring parents and relatives, making affectionate jokes and expressing hopes of being reunited in the near future.
People across the world have been tweeting about the ongoing rescue mission in Thailand to evacuate the Thai football team which had been stuck in the cave for over two weeks.
Thai rescue is underway! It is an example of the best of the human spirit. Six boys rescued so far!
Thai rescue is underway! It is an example of the best of the human spirit. Six boys rescued so far!
- Jeanso (@jfm1950) July 8, 2018
Been religiously following the news about the 12 boys stuck in a flooded Thai cave and I'm just soooo happy that's half of them out safe already
-Stephanie (@_stephmcintosh) July 8, 2018
6 of the boys are out.
-Jake (@jvkec) July 8, 2018
7 to go, way ahead of time. They expected 1 or 2 to be out by now. Amazing work by all involved.
Confirmed by local Thai TV.#ThaiCaveRescue
It has started raining outside the cave which may hamper the rescue operations even as more boys are being evacuated from the cave.
6 Boys have exited the Thai cave complex according to news agency Reuters
Two Ambulances were seen leaving the Thai cave complex hours after the operation commenced according to reports.
Two of the boys have come out of the cave, two right behind.
Ambulances, helicopters are all stationed around the cave to help facilitate prompt action after and during the rescue operation.
The boys have reached the rescue base camp in the complex and will walk out soon.
Food and medical help was sent to the boys, who were rake thin but alive, huddled on a ledge deep inside a flooded cave nine days after they went missing. The Thai provided months' worth of food and short diving lessons to the boys.
Representatives for Elon Musk talked with Thai authorities about aiding in the rescue of the boys, said a spokesman for the billionaire. Mr Musk's companies had said they could help by trying to locate the boys' precise location using Space Exploration Technologies Corp. or Boring Co. technology, pumping water or providing heavy-duty battery packs known as Tesla Inc. Powerwalls, the spokesman said.
Previously, the underwater search for 12 children and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand was halted as water levels rose amid relentless rainfall. But search teams, including three British diving experts and US military personnel, continued work above ground despite the setback, scouring the area for entry points to the cave where the team has been stuck.
The boys, aged between 11 and 16, went missing with their 25-year-old coach after soccer practice on June 23, setting out on an adventure to explore the cave complex near the border with Myanmar and celebrate a boy's birthday, reported news agency Reuters.
Their ordeal has drawn huge media attention in Thailand and abroad, and getting the boys out safely could be a boost for Thailand's ruling junta ahead of a general election next year.
The first two boys have been rescued from the flooded cave and are currently in a hospital near the cave.
Thirteen foreign divers and five members of Thailand's elite navy SEAL unit are trying to bring the boys - some as young as 11 and weak swimmers - through narrow, submerged passageways that claimed the life of a former Thai navy diver on Friday.
