What is known of the cave in Thailand where boys are trapped | World

The entrance is large and spacious, 80 m long, and has a well paved floor, as described by speleologist Martin Ellis, in articles on the caves of northern Thailand. Local guides usually accompany tourists up to part of the trip.

Moving a few hundred meters, the pbadage becomes complex and narrow, 2 m wide and 3 m high. The ground is muddy. There are rooms along the way, and many of them accumulate water even in the dry period. When it rains a lot, the galleries fill up and overflow. There are loose rocks and rock obstacles that make walking difficult.

Right now, there is water for most of the way. The rapid arrival of water on the site forced the boys to enter more and more into the cave. They were found about 2 km from the entrance, after at least one point of great flood, near a place known as Pattaya Beach. Rescuers have used pumps to drain the water, but rains make work more difficult.

The road to the place of the cave where they are is tortuous. According to Deutsche Welle, divers from the elite Navy team put six hours to navigate this waterway and little visibility.

In some parts of the cave, there are strong currents of air, which indicates that there are connections with the surface of the mountain.

Last week, experts spotted a hidden opening in the closed forest, which can serve as an option to get to the point where the group is located. This natural cavity was at least 1.5 meters in diameter and at least 22 meters deep, according to CNN. However, it is not yet known if it is connected to the location where the boys are.

The cave, which is in Tham Luang National Park in Chiang Rai Province, began to be explored in 1986. The first adventurers could walk only 2 km along the path that is now known from 10 km.

According to Martin Ellis's blog, Tham Luang has the fourth-largest length of Thai caves. The longest, Tham Phra Wang Daeng, is 13.8 km, according to the latest update made in November 2017.

The depth of the galleries also attracts attention. It is estimated that the location of the boys in Tham Luang is between 800 and 1 km deep.