BANGKOK – Six of the 12 schoolboys trapped in a flooded cave have been rescued and taken to the hospital, a Thai official confirmed on Sunday, after the nation began a daring rescue operation which is still underway with renowned divers from across the world.
A senior member of the rescue operation’s medical team said out of the six boys rescued during the operation, four have been safely delivered to the hospital.
An additional six boys and their football coach remain in the cave in Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province. A total of 90 divers – 50 foreign and 40 Thai – are involved in the rescue mission.
https://twitter.com/HelierCheung/status/1015933902966349824
“Today we are at peak readiness,” the lead rescuer said as he announced the start of the operation. The entire operation is expected to take three to four days, according to a military commander involved in the effort.
Thirteen medical teams have been stationed outside the cave, each of which has their own helicopter and ambulance.
Rescuers have been racing against the weather ever since they discovered the stranded football squad on Monday after they had already spent nine days underground. Monsoon storm clouds could bring rain at any moment, which would further flood the cave where the 12 boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach have been cut off by rising water.
https://twitter.com/HelierCheung/status/1015930150825783296
Flooded underground passages, some only 0.6 meters (two feet) wide, separate the cave from the surface. Concerns were earlier voiced that the children, weakened by nine days without food, were unfit for diving all the way through.
Earlier, the children sent heart-wrenching letters to their families on the surface, and the coach apologized to their parents. Rescuers have been taking food to the boys and pumping air into the isolated cave.
https://twitter.com/RichardBarrow/status/1015929584963842048
The rescue effort, which has captivated the world throughout the week, was overshadowed on Thursday by the death of a 38-year-old former Marine, who died from a lack of oxygen after falling unconscious while on a supply run for the trapped boys.
The boys – who are aged between 11 and 16 – and their 25-year-old coach got stranded after they embarked on an exploration of the cave after a practice football game.
The high-stakes operation is also backed by renowned divers, especially the two women John Volanthen and Rick Stanton from England, who are also taking part in the operation.
These are the 2 British men leading the rescue operation. John Volanthen and Rick Stanton are universally regarded as the best cave divers in the world.#ThaiCaveRescue #ThamLuang pic.twitter.com/44PPZBTleG
— Mia (@thepaperword) July 8, 2018
