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| Thai cave rescue: boys 'learning to dive' as authorities race against time to free them | Thai cave rescue: boys 'learning to dive' as authorities race against time to free them |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The 12 boys who are trapped in a cave in northern Thailand are being trained in how to breathe through scuba masks as they prepare for a possible attempt at leaving the cave. | The 12 boys who are trapped in a cave in northern Thailand are being trained in how to breathe through scuba masks as they prepare for a possible attempt at leaving the cave. |
| Thai authorities are racing to drain water from a northern Thailand cave where the boys and their football coach are stranded before storms arrive, after which an extraction will become “almost impossible” for months, according to a coordinator of the international rescue effort. | |
| Teaching the boys, none of whom know how to swim, to use breathing apparatus so they can be escorted out of the cave system by rescue divers, is thought to be the most realistic option that would allow boys to be rescued from the caves before monsoon rains hit later in the week. | |
| While they are currently learning to use the gear, none have made any attempt to get through the water hemming them in. Even if authorities manage to drain enough water to allow the boys to crawl most of the way out of the cave, they would still need to pass through short underwater passages. | |
| Ruengrit Changkwanyuen, a coordinator of the Thai contingent of the international cave diving team that located the boys on Monday night, said the group was on high ground and safe from flash flooding. | |
| “But rescuers have to work quickly because by Friday a storm is coming, and if the rain starts again the cave is going to be fully flooded,” Changkwanyuen said. “If that happens it will be almost impossible to send supplies or keep in touch with them.” | “But rescuers have to work quickly because by Friday a storm is coming, and if the rain starts again the cave is going to be fully flooded,” Changkwanyuen said. “If that happens it will be almost impossible to send supplies or keep in touch with them.” |
| New footage emerged of the children on Wednesday morning showing them being treated by a Thai navy doctor who spent the night around four kilometres inside the cave complex where the boys have been trapped for the past 11 days. | New footage emerged of the children on Wednesday morning showing them being treated by a Thai navy doctor who spent the night around four kilometres inside the cave complex where the boys have been trapped for the past 11 days. |
| A nurse and up to four soldiers are also with the group in a raised cavern near an area known as Pattaya Beach and were monitoring their health and trying to keep their spirits high. “We are taking care of them as our own kids,” said Narongsak Osatanakorn, the governor of Chiang Rai province. | A nurse and up to four soldiers are also with the group in a raised cavern near an area known as Pattaya Beach and were monitoring their health and trying to keep their spirits high. “We are taking care of them as our own kids,” said Narongsak Osatanakorn, the governor of Chiang Rai province. |
| Authorities said they appeared mentally and physically healthy after receiving food and water supplies, but were yet to speak to their parents. An attempt to send a mobile phone into the cavern was botched when a waterproof seal around the device was broken. They are preparing to send another. | |
| “Once the phone gets to them, we want the families to talk with them and a lot of pressure will be relieved,” an army spokesman said on Tuesday. | “Once the phone gets to them, we want the families to talk with them and a lot of pressure will be relieved,” an army spokesman said on Tuesday. |
| Thai officials said on Tuesday that no extraction was imminent. “Today we won’t be able to,” Osatanakorn said at a morning briefing. | Thai officials said on Tuesday that no extraction was imminent. “Today we won’t be able to,” Osatanakorn said at a morning briefing. |
| “We have to be 100% sure all kids will come out at the same time. Some might be ready before others. If they’re not ready, or it’s risky, we will not take them out.” | “We have to be 100% sure all kids will come out at the same time. Some might be ready before others. If they’re not ready, or it’s risky, we will not take them out.” |
| Authorities were sticking to their main plan of trying to drain enough water from the cave to allow the boys to be pulled out, he said, efforts that have been aided by an unseasonably dry day in Mae Sei. | Authorities were sticking to their main plan of trying to drain enough water from the cave to allow the boys to be pulled out, he said, efforts that have been aided by an unseasonably dry day in Mae Sei. |
| “The most important thing is to lower water levels,” Osatanakorn said. “Water has decreased a lot but when it’s raining we can’t fight it. If it doesn’t rain we can have good results. Time is limited in getting the kids out.” | “The most important thing is to lower water levels,” Osatanakorn said. “Water has decreased a lot but when it’s raining we can’t fight it. If it doesn’t rain we can have good results. Time is limited in getting the kids out.” |
| He said more water was currently being pumped out of the site than was seeping in and divers were working to seal holes in the rocks around the boys. But he declined to set a time frame for their evacuation. “It all depends,” he said. | He said more water was currently being pumped out of the site than was seeping in and divers were working to seal holes in the rocks around the boys. But he declined to set a time frame for their evacuation. “It all depends,” he said. |
| As well as finding ways to extract the boys in the coming days, Thai navy seals are also planning for a scenario in which the rescue cannot take place, preparing to send food and medical supplies that could last the next four months until the monsoon subsides. | |
| Thai soldiers conducted their first evacuation drill on Tuesday afternoon, locking arms to form a column from the mouth of the cave towards a field where 13 ambulances are waiting to ferry the group to hospital. | Thai soldiers conducted their first evacuation drill on Tuesday afternoon, locking arms to form a column from the mouth of the cave towards a field where 13 ambulances are waiting to ferry the group to hospital. |
| Mental health workers said one of them would be assigned to accompany each child in the ambulance along with one of the boy’s parents. The group have been inside the cave since 23 June, when they wandered inside after a football training session and are though to have become trapped by rising water levels. | Mental health workers said one of them would be assigned to accompany each child in the ambulance along with one of the boy’s parents. The group have been inside the cave since 23 June, when they wandered inside after a football training session and are though to have become trapped by rising water levels. |
| Additional reporting by Jacob Goldberg | Additional reporting by Jacob Goldberg |
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