Title : 18 divers enter Thai cave as deadline looms to save trapped soccer team
link : 18 divers enter Thai cave as deadline looms to save trapped soccer team
18 divers enter Thai cave as deadline looms to save trapped soccer team
Evacuation of trapped Thai soccer team has BEGUN: Divers enter cave to retrieve children and their coach after water levels dropped to their lowest in ten days - and they could be out by tonight
- The treacherous rescue operation to save 12 young Thai footballers from a flooded cave has now begun
- Eighteen divers have been sent in to complete the mission as officials said Sunday was 'D-Day' for rescue
- The young footballers and their coach have been trapped in flooded caves in northern Thailand for 16 days
- As soon as the boys exit the cave they will be airlifted by helicopter or driven by ambulance to local hospital
The evacuation of 12 schoolboys trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand has begun and they could be out by tonight, the rescue commander announced this morning.
An extraction team of 18 international divers started their 'extremely dangerous' operation at 10am local time after the boys' anxious families were informed.
All of the youngsters and their 25-year-old coach are expected to emerge one by one from the cave as early as 9pm if everything goes to plan, Governor Narongsak told reporters on Sunday morning.
Each boy will be accompanied by two divers on the perilous 4km (2.5miles) journey through murky waters and narrow tunnels. It's understood they will be able to walk most of the way after teams drained the water level by 30cm (12ins) last night.
'Today is D-Day,' the governor who has led the rescue announced. 'The water level has reached the lowest it has been in ten days. We ask to pray that this operation is a success.
'The boys are physically and mentally fit to come out. All of the families have been told about today's operation.'
Coming home: The evacuation of 12 schoolboys trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand has begun and they could be out by tonight, the rescue commander announced on Sunday morning
Thai police stand guard near a cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped for 16 days since June 23
Volunteers delivery free food near Tham Luang cave complex, where 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach are trapped inside a flooded cave
Family members and Buddhist monks come out from the Tham Luang cave complex as divers enter the tunnels for their mission
U.S. military personnel arrive at the Tham Luang cave complex where the extraction mission started at 10am local time
A police officer stands guard at a checkpoint outside the Tham Luang cave complex after Thailand's government instructed members of the media to move out urgently
Media staff leave the area around the entrance of the cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped for two weeks
Police stand guard outside the Tham Luang cave complex. The youngsters will be led out of the cave one by one and taken directly to hospital
Left: Thai navy seals posted this image on their Facebook page showing two Thai divers and one international diver before starting their rescue mission. The caption reads: 'We, the Thai navy Seals, along with the international diver team, are ready to bring the soccer team home!' Right: A rescue worker moves oxygen
Journalists and non-essential personnel are ordered to leave the cave site and surrounding roads as the rescue operation begins to evacuate the trapped soccer team
Volunteers give massage for a solider near Tham Luang cave complex, where 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach are trapped
The youngsters will be led out of the tunnels one by one and taken directly to Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital, 57km (35miles) from the cave.
The most critical will be airlifted by helicopters while the less fragile will be transported by ambulance.
All of the boys have been told about the operation, which is being watched eagerly around the world, and they are ready to come out, the governor said.
'They are very strong and determined to come out and be reunited with their families.'
The rescue mission will continue until all of the stranded boys and their coach are safe, he said. The first boy may be out of the cave by 9pm local time but the mission could take three days.
The evacuation team is made up of 18 divers. This includes 13 specialists who have come to Thailand for the operation and 5 highly experienced Thai divers.
'This is an all-star team of divers,' Governor Narongsak said.
Thai authorities removed the media – including dozens of foreign TV networks, photographers and journalists – from the area around the entrance of the cave this morning.
A fleet of ambulances is on standby at the remote forest site and a helicopter landing strip has been hacked out of the dense jungle.
The football team and coach have been trapped in the cave for more than two weeks after a squad bonding trek went horribly wrong.
Thousands of rescuers including Thai Navy SEALs and elite British divers have been working around the clock to come up with a plan to bring the exhausted and starved boys home safely.
But with gathering clouds that have already thundered down heavy rain for 90 minutes on Saturday night, authorities are anxious to push ahead before it's too late.
'Now and in the next three or four days, the conditions are perfect (for evacuation) in terms of the water, the weather and the boys' health,' Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said.
'We have to make a clear decision on what we can do.'
Australian military personnel outside the Tham Luang cave complex, where 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach are trapped inside a flooded cave
Family members cook for rescue workers near Tham Luang cave complex as the divers enter the tunnels in a dangerous bid to rescue the boys
Family members come out from Tham Luang cave complex. One woman was seen talking on the phone as she was ushered out by rescue workers
Family members come out from Tham Luang cave complex. They were seen accompanied by nurses and emergency workers
Journalists work near Tham Luang cave complex before they were asked to move further away as rescue operations began
Thai military personnel inside a cave complex during the ongoing rescue operations for the youth soccer team and their assistant coach, at Tham Luang cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park
Thousands of rescuers including Thai Navy SEALs and elite British divers have been working around the clock to come up with a plan to bring the exhausted and starved boys home safely
But with gathering clouds that have already thundered down heavy rain for 90 minutes on Saturday night, authorities are anxious to push ahead before it's too late
Weather forecasts predict sustained thunderstorms lasting through Sunday and Monday, with further stormy weather for the next two weeks.
In another sign that a rescue attempt was imminent, police early on Sunday morning local time began evacuating the area around the cave mouth in preparation - giving everyone until 9am (3am BST) to leave.
'Assessing the situation now, it is necessary to evacuate the area for the rescue operation,' Mae Sai police commander Komsan Sa-ardluan bellowed over a loudspeaker.
'Those unrelated to the rescue operation, please evacuate the area immediately.'
The frantic four-day deadline marked a dramatic U-turn from Governor Narongsak's press conference just 12 hours earlier.
Then he said the boys were still learning to dive and were not yet strong enough to make the perilous escape through narrow tunnels that are at one point just 15 inches wide.
Navigating the cave system takes an experienced diver more than five hours and the boys were not back at full strength after suffering exhaustion and starvation before rescuers found them.
Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said the boys were learning to dive but were not strong enough to undertake to long journey through narrow, underwater passages
Speaking outside the Tham Luang caves in northern Thailand, the governor ruled out a rescue attempt overnight on Friday but indicated the situation could change in days to come
'There is no chance the boys will come out today. it is not suitable. they still cannot dive,' he said at a long-awaited press conference after midnight on Saturday local time.
However, it appeared not only was the imminent monsoon forcing rescuers' hands, but the dwindling oxygen supply inside the cave keeping the boys alive.
'When we're in a confined space, if the oxygen drops to 12 percent, the human body starts to slow down and people can fall unconscious,' Governor Narongsak said.
'There's also carbon dioxide. If the oxygen levels are down and the carbon dioxide levels are up, then you can get too much carbon dioxide in your blood.'
Levels in the cave have fallen to 15 per cent – down from a healthy level of 21 per cent – due, ironically, to the presence of so many rescuers trying to free the boys.
Rescuers have fed a kilometres-long air pipe into the cave to restore oxygen levels in the chamber where the team are sheltering, accompanied by medics and expert divers.
More than 100 exploratory holes have also been bored - some shallow, but the longest 400 metres deep - into the mountainside in an attempt to open a second evacuation route and avoid forcing the boys into a dangerous dive through submerged tunnels.
When they were first found, the boys were fed the high-energy glucose gel used by elite sportsmen to rapidly boost their energy levels after so long without food.
Although they have been reintroduced to solid food, it is by necessity all cold, and in their letters to their parents the boys dreamed of fried chicken.
The boys and their 25-year-old coach are not ready to be extracted, but authorities are likely to launch a risky rescue attempt in coming days if rain begins catastrophically flooding the caves
Governor Narongsak foreshadowed plans could rapidly change depending on the weather, as 'a heavy downpour comes down into the caves like a tsunami'.
'There is no chance the boys will come out today. It is not suitable, they still cannot dive,' he said at a long-awaited press conference after midnight on Saturday local time.
'The children are learning how to dive. We'd like minimum risk, but we can't wait until it rains heavily and worsens the situation.
'If that happens, we'll need to reassess. The key thing is the kids' readiness to dive. If it rains, and the situation is not good, we will try to bring the boys out.'
Elite navy divers are on anxious standby to help the schoolboys through the terrifying narrow tunnels that are a huge struggle for even experienced divers to navigate through with murky route.
At its narrowest part, a choke point of just 15 inches, has a sharp upward bend followed by a downward slope.
The boys would have to crawl out of the water swirling with silt in complete darkness guided by divers. Then they must clamber across a rocky peak before descending into the murky waters again.
Officials have long feared the coming torrential rain would catastrophically flood the cave system in Chiang Rai and make rescue impossible.
A huge operation is underway at the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex, where dozens of Thai Navy SEALs and international experts are attempting to find a way to get the boys out
Navigating the cave system takes an experienced diver more than five hours and the boys were not back at full strength after suffering exhaustion and starvation before rescuers found them.
A group of volunteers prepare to leave in search of alternative entry points to the Tham Luang cave area as rescue operation continues for the 12 boys and their football team coach trapped in the cave
Rescue workers rest at the command centre near the Tham Luang cave ready to spring into action if the operation is called
Should the rains further flood the cave, as predicted, the team could be trapped in the cave for more than four months until waters recede,
However, Governor Narongsak appeared unwilling to let the 12 boys and their coach be stuck for that long, as he laughed when asked if they would be left inside.
He said rescuers 'need to make the plan that is the best plan' and were assessing options, they will then test the plan to make sure it will work with a low enough risk.
'If the risk is minimal, we will try. We are afraid of the weather and the oxygen in the cave. We have to try to set the plan and find which plan is the best,' he said.
But he appeared to rule out tunneling through the rock to reach them in favour of the boys swimming out in dive gear or being pushed through the tunnel by divers.
'The boys entered through the front of the cave, they will come out through the front,' he said.
Governor Narongsak said the boys were still healthy and have practised wearing diving masks and breathing in preparation for the diving possibility.
When asked if he felt positively about the situation, he replied: 'The world is perfect'.
'I'm worried about everyone who participates in the rescue operation,' he added.
Officials have been planning to fit the boys with full-face oxygen masks and extract them two at a time with navy chaperones.
Headcam footage reveals the dark and waterlogged tunnels the Thai boys trapped 800 metres underground will have to pass through to escape
Divers can only get so far before full diving equipment is required as they must swim though completely submerged passages
On Friday, after pumping out 130 million litres, the cave water levels had dropped by enough to enable the boys to pass some sections without going under water. It means that an 11-hour return journey has apparently been cut to less than six.
He said the two British divers had yesterday visited the boys again, who were mostly in good condition, although three were now 'quite weak' physically.
'Weaker than the other boys, but not in a serious condition. And they are all mentally strong,' he said
However, rescue teams are racing against time amid worsening weather and lowered oxygen levels, which may force rescuers to try pulling the boys out before they were fully ready.
'We can no longer wait for all conditions to be ready, because circumstances are pressuring us,' naval chief Apakorn Yukongkaew said.
Water was accidentally pumped back into caves by volunteers amid desperate attempts to lower flooding levels in the sprawling underground network, it has emerged
Former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan died after running out of oxygen in the cramped, waterlogged passageways of the Tham Luang caves in northern Thailand
'At first, we thought the children could stay for a long time, but now things have changed.'
The extreme dangers were brought home on Friday when former Thai navy seal Saman Kunan drowned during the rescue operation's preparations.
The 38-year-old volunteered to help deliver oxygen tanks though a long underwater tunnel, but got into trouble underwater despite being an expert diver and a super-fit triathlon runner.
His death prompted concerns over how 12 terrified children who cannot even swim would fare on the same hideous journey.
Mr Kunan body was flown to his hometown in Roi Et for a royally-sponsored funeral, with pictures showing military officials transporting his flag-draped coffin.
Kunan died due to a lack of oxygen in the tunnel. He was trying to reach a cavern set up as a command centre 1.2miles inside the cave system when he ran out of air at 2am local time
The body of a diver who died while taking supplies to a trapped Thai soccer team has been repatriated with honours. A Thai Buddhist monk leads military honour guards today as they carry a flag-draped coffin containing the remains of Saman Kunan
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