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Thai officials say the 12 children and football coach trapped in the flooded caves should not be saved on Friday night (6) because they still can not dive.
An air duct was installed in the room where the group was trapped for nearly two weeks in the Tham Luang cave complex.
The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their football coach entered the cave network 12 days ago. They ended up getting stuck when a storm flooded much of the site and blocked the main exit.
Earlier this Friday, a Thai Navy diver who participated in the rescue efforts died while trying to refuel the group.
When addressing the press Friday, the governor of Chiang Rai Province, where the cave complex is located, said the boys already have the strength to walk, but not to swim or dive.
Narongsak Osotthanakorn said that the health of most boys "has improved and is normal", and that first aid divers continue to teach them diving techniques and underwater breathing.
However, he denied that the team will try to save them tonight when it rains again. "No, they can not dive yet," he said.
Boys receive food and medical care, but are worried about forecasting heavy rains on Sunday.
The military drained the water from the cave, but if they can not sufficiently lower the water to walk or swim superficially, there are only two life-saving options left: learn how to boys to dive for oxygen or wait for months until the end of the rainy season.
The risk of waiting is that the rain water, through the holes in the cave and the water courses that pbad through the mountain, will completely flood the room where the boys have found refuge.
On Thursday, his parents sent them letters, but the governor said he still did not know if they had already received them.
The group was found in a cave by British rescue divers 10 days after his disappearance. They were sitting on the ledge of a rock in a room about four kilometers from the entrance to the cave.
Since then, teams of Thai and foreign divers have been bringing them food, oxygen and medical care, but rescuers worry about the level of oxygen in the room, which , according to the authorities, dropped to 15%. Usually this level is 21%.
This decrease is due to the large number of people working inside the cave to allow rescue, explained Narongsak Osotthanakorn.
"Let's try to work out the best plan in which the risk is minimal, let's get them out of there," he said.
He also recalled that the rains have decreased in recent days, giving rescuers the opportunity to drain several areas of the cave that team members can access.
Initially, authorities investigated leaving them inside caves until the end of the rainy season – which could mean that they would be jailed for four months.
Rescuers dug more than 100 holes to attempt to reach the cave by a direct path. Eighteen of them – the deepest 400 meters – were promising, but the governor of Chiang Rai said that he did not know whether it would be possible to reach the boys , which would be 600 meters below the surface.
What happened to the diver?
Saman Gunan – an experienced diver – lost consciousness when he was returning from the Tham Luang cave after delivering oxygen tanks. He was taken out of the cave by his diving companion, but it was not possible to revive him.
His death highlights the risks of rescuing boys through the narrow pbadages and flooded caves – some of them do not know how to swim, and everyone will have to learn the basics of diving.
"His mission was to provide oxygen, and he was left without enough on the way home," said Chiang Rai's vice governor, Pbadakorn Boonyaluck.
Saman, who was 38, would have already left the Navy but returned to help with the rescue operation. He was also an athlete and a cyclist.
According to the authorities, his funeral will be paid by the Thai king.