17h29 – Thailand: some of the children come out "asleep" from the flooded cave

Some of the 12 children were "sleeping" on stretchers in the depths of the partially flooded cave in Thailand during the perilous rescue operation, the success of which provoked jubilation in the country.

The Five The last survivors were swept away Tuesday from the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand, where they were trapped on 23 June by the rising waters. A video made public by the authorities shows them appearing in good health at the hospital where they were admitted.

The operation, described as "mission impossible" by the head of the crisis cell, was perfectly successful and left room Wednesday for exultation in the country, where the exclamation "Hooyah", inherited from the US Navy and intended to boost morale, was flourishing on social networks.

The Thai authorities have long been little talked about the course of the evacuation. How are 12 boys aged 11 to 16, none of whom are diving, and some of whom can not swim, have been able to escape from a cave with narrow pbadages punctuated by flooded casings with zero visibility?

A Thai diver , short of air, notably died during the preparations for the evacuation.

Some first elements of answer were brought by a video made public Wednesday by the helpers showing children under sedation, out of the grotto wrapped in survival blankets in a flexible stretcher, which serves as a cocoon. They are equipped with a diving suit and equipment.

The video shows Thai and foreign rescuers carrying or advancing a stretcher supported by a system of ropes and pulleys. Multiple rubber or plastic pipes run along narrow bowels.

Some of the children have indeed come out "asleep," said AFP a rescuer, a former Thai naval commando, who participated in the operation.

"Some of them were asleep, others were moving their fingers, (as if they were groggy, but they were breathing," said Commander Chaiyananta Peeranarong, who was the last diver out of the cave.

Doctors were positioned along the course and checked their condition and pulse.

– The pumps go out –

The head of the ruling junta Prayut Chan-O-Cha said Tuesday that the rescuers had given children a "mild tranquilizer" to avoid panic but that under no circumstances had they been stunned with drugs.

For this operation, Thailand called upon foreign specialists to support his pr (19659002) Thirteen "world-clbad" divers, including the Australian Richard "Harry" Harris, an anesthetist and diver, participated in the rescue, said on Wednesday the head of the Narongsak Osottanakorn Crisis Staff, who said This operation would not have been possible without this Australian doctor.

Rescuers had delayed the evacuation, the time to pump water, to have a minimum of underwater portions to go underwater. But they were under the threat of further rains.

Tuesday, as the last rescuers left the cave, pumps finally let go, making a pbadage where they could walk before.

"If one did not pump water there, we could only go out with a bottle of oxygen, "said the former naval commando. The twenty or so rescuers who stayed inside just had time to get out before this pbadage was submerged.

– "We will sing him a song" –

The 12 children and the coach, emaciated after two weeks perched on a promontory four kilometers from the entrance to the cave, now recover at Chiang Rai hospital.

In the video released by the authorities, children, quarantined behind a window, wear masks on the face, make a sign of the head and hands towards the people who came to see them.

If they escaped, "it may be because they were together, like a team, helping each other, "said Inspector General of the Ministry of Health Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, highlighting the role of the coach of 25.

A few hundred schoolchildren gathered Wednesday in front of the establishment where will stay e several days the survivors.

Under the guidance of a teacher, the students sing to thank "all those who contributed to the success of the mission", a modest testimony to the recognition of foreign specialists who contributed to the operations.

One of the young people in the cave, Pheeraphat "Night" Sompiengjai, was turning 16 on the day they found themselves trapped. He will have his birthday cake when he returns to school, said one of his clbadmates, Duangduen Sittiwongsa. "He will be singing a song," he added.

Ekkapol Chantawong's grandfather, Khamluh Guntawong, told him "very happy and relieved." I could not sleep for days. I'm glad the boys are out too, "he said.

The coach begins to look like a hero in the country although he was the only adult with the children when they decided , after their football training, to visit the cave, floodable in the monsoon season as indicated by a sign placed at the entrance.

burs-apj-ev / dth / mra / sg